Tony Gazley - WTMC Legend

A few of you might have heard me talk about Tony Gazley, who led the Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club trip I did last year to Mt Angelus.

Just how hard is he?  Have a look at this quote from the latest tramping club newsletter:

Bad luck moments occur and being able to think clearly when trauma occurs is useful. Tony and I walked uphill on the western side of a stream for three hours late one afternoon under a hot sun, before camping in the hebes in an alpine basin. Although the previous day had been long, the travel up the stream day was not arduous and we had an early camp for the night. The next morning was refreshingly cool and we had the same stream to follow out of the hebes and over the pass, and with only two more days to walk south to Mt Cook in good weather.


On our first stream crossing of the day Tony slipped and a razor sharp rock slit his knee open to the bone, a bad luck moment. We both had a look at it and knew it had to be stitched before the knee would go anywhere. Knowing I had needle and grey sewing thread, Tony calmly sat on a rock and held the two sides of his knee together while I flushed the wound out with water and used my darning needle to put in 15 stitches, dipping the thread into my antiseptic solution and having to use a small rock to push the needle through Tony’s rather tough knee skin. Tony uttered no sound as the sewing was done without any local anaesthetic, a real man! Once stitched, a few sutures were placed over the 10cm wound, (for aesthetic purposes) and a crepe bandage wrapped around it.


Being old timers and knowing people have to make up their own minds about when to stop, and being in a safe place, we walked for five hours up and over the mountain pass and down to the next valley for lunch at Mistake Flat Hut. Total bleeding was the size of a 50cent piece and the leg was mobile until we stopped, when it swelled up.


At this point, with a new fast approaching front in the sky, (later discovered it was a cyclone hitting South Island), we knew it was time to set off the emergency beacon and call for a helicopter. Ninety minutes later the helicopter appeared from Christchurch with three paramedics. They were very happy to see the tell-tale wind indicator outside the safety of a hut, as well as two trampers in good spirits, with appropriate gear and experience for the terrain. We were also thanked for being a tidy rescue, ie calling them in daylight hours to a genuine accident and inviting them to this beautiful valley as none had been there before.


The paramedics complimented my needlepoint and left good alone until we got to the hospital when the shocked house surgeon face recovered a more graceful composure when he removed the stitches and saw the bone. The consultant seemed happy with my Himalayan style stitching, complimenting me on my neatness and evenness before giving me a sterile needle and thread as a gift for next time.