A great pair of lungs and some sharp ears saved a truck driver's life after he ended up in the Buller River early this morning.
Buller Gorge (file photo) Photo: 123RF
The driver, a man called Ashley, was not badly hurt and said he must have nodded off.
Listen to Ashley and local Deane Keir
A team of emergency services were called to the accident halfway between Westport and Inangahua just after 5am.
Westport Fire Brigade senior station officer Kevin Stechman said the man was clinging to a bush by the river after slipping several metres from his truck, which had lodged against a tree.
He said fire officers used ropes to reach the man but he was eventually winched out by rescue helicopter.
Local Deane Keir, asleep at home half a kilometre away, first heard him desperately yelling for help at about 4.30am.
Listen to the full interview of Deane Keir speaking to Mary Wilson