Emergency services say a motorcyclist is extremely lucky to be alive after a dramatic helicopter rescue from the flooded and fast-flowing Waimakariri River on Tuesday morning.
The Westpac rescue helicopter winched the man to safety as he was clinging to a tree in the swollen river, after being thrown from his bike in a crash on the old Waimakariri bridge.
Sergeant Mike Brooklands says the Rangiora man, who is in his 40s, had been travelling south on Main North Road about 7.20am when a truck going in the opposite direction appeared to cross the centre line.
"It appears the motorcycle had no chance to avoid the truck," Mr Brooklands says. "The force of the collision has propelled the motorcyclist over the side of the bridge and into the river. He was swept about 40 metres downstream and was able to cling on to a tree on the north side."
Police say the river was in flood and extremely high because of recent heavy rain.
Helicopter pilot Stu Farquhar says it was a difficult rescue because of the strong current and the man's location, and he does not know how much longer the man could have held on, because he was tiring.
"If he had unfortunately let go," Mr Farquhar says, "that would have been a really bad situation, because the water was very, very fast-flowing and there were a lot of snags and other things in the water."
The bridge was closed for several hours but has since re-opened to traffic travelling in both directions.
