Read the true stories about kiwis who courageously rescued others from dangerous situations.  There are rescuers who saved people from shark attack or from foreign political turmoil. And rescuers searched the mountain for people encountering trouble. Also, an interesting story of the adventurer who helped Ernest Shackleton. Read about their uneasy but worthwhile rescues!

Rescue pilot : the daring adventures of a New Zealand search and rescue pilot / Funnell, John
“Often referred to as a ‘search and rescue daredevil’, John Funnell is one of New Zealand’s longest serving and most respected search and rescue pilots, having clocked an incredible 19,000 hours of flying time. John is a hero transported thousands of victims to safety. He was also known for his unprecedented 1200-kilometre mission to save a MetService employee attacked by a shark on the remote subantarctic Campbell Island.” (Adapted from the Catalogue)

Purple hands : a Kiwi nurse-midwife’s response in times of crisis / Walker, Barbara
“What is it like for aid workers who serve refugees? Kiwi nurse-midwife, Barbara Walker shares her heart-rending, and inspiring stories and the people she helped. From the Sakeo One Refugee Camp in Thailand, where she cared for those fleeing Pol Pot’s regime in Cambodia in a bamboo-framed field hospital to Mozambique placement that ended due to a death threat, Barbara’s Christian faith gave her strength.” (Adapted from the Catalogue)

Frank Worsley : Shackleton’s fearless captain / Thomson, John
“Frank Worsley, without doubt one of New Zealand’s greatest, but largely unsung adventuring heroes. He was Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance, which was trapped in pack ice on the 1914-1916 Antarctic expedition and slowly crushed. The crew of 28 spent over a year camped on the Antarctic ice before Shackleton, Worsley and four others sailed a tiny lifeboat on a 17-day journey across the wild Southern Ocean to South Georgia to summon help for the rest of the men, who were all eventually rescued. (Adapted from the catalogue)

Shark man : one Kiwi man’s mission to save our most feared and misunderstood predator / Elliott, Riley Gordon
“Riley’s passion for sharks started while he was working at the Oceans Research Great White Shark Station in South Africa, where he learned to free-dive with sharks beyond the cage. Riley returned to New Zealand and began research for his PhD. In the process he’s becoming New Zealand’s most popular expert on shark species, and a go-to commentator and making of the TVNZ television documentary series ‘Shark Man’. (Adapted from the Catalogue)

Land search and rescue in New Zealand, 1934-2020 / Bates, Roger
“Search and Rescue started off unofficially as a bunch of trampers or climbers going out to look for a lost party. Searchers were weighed down by heavy radios and equipment with cumbersome packs. If found injured or dead, the missing party was carried out on a stretcher. Up to recent, this is now a highly organized system of volunteers who work as a support agency with communication technology and rescue equipment, even helicopter.” (Adapted from the Catalogue)

Mountain rescue: epic tales of search and rescue in high-country New Zealand / Melchior, Phillip
“Ill-equipped, underprepared, suffering from summit fever or just plain unlucky, a handful of climbers every year fall victim to New Zealand’s Southern Alps. Most will be able to look back from their fortunate escape and learn from their experiences. Others won’t be so lucky. This book tells the thrilling stories behind some of New Zealand’s most dramatic search and rescue operations in the Southern Alps and their foothills.” (Adapted from the Catalogue)

High misadventure : New Zealand mountaineering tragedies and survival stories / Hersey, Paul
“Climber and journalist Paul Hersey explores when a slip or a poor decision during climbing leads to tragedy. He explores the critical factors behind the eight mountain incidents from the recent decades. For example, the deaths of five climbers when the Three Johns Hut blew away in 1977, the 1990 loss of six army cadets during a training exercise on Ruapehu, and the 2004 deaths of four climbers on Mount Tasman.” (Adapted from the Catalogue)

Responders : the New Zealand volunteer response teams, Christchurch earthquake deployments / Seager, Pete
“Over 300 trained rescue volunteers from all over New Zealand came following the Darfield earthquake in 2010 and Christchurch in 2011. The volunteers provided a behind-the-scenes account of their dedicated search with personal photographs”. (Adapted from the Catalogue)