Stranded Diver Refuses Helicopter Ride To Safety

It's tough being caught between a rock and hard place -- but a rock and a helicopter? A diver whose tender boat lost power south of New Zealand's Island Bay Thursday decided that, given the choice between finding refuge from the sea on a large rock or being lifted to safety by a helicopter -- he'd take the rock.

The man was one of two divers who abandoned their boat after the engine failed at the boat began to drift out to sea. While one of them decided to make a break for it by swimming to the shore, the other chose to climb onto a large rock just off the island.

He waved off Wellington rescue personnel who flew out in a helicopter to rescue him. The man refused to be winched onboard the helicopter, according to media reports, later saying he was afraid of heights.

"I was quite amazed that he refused to be rescued," Westpac Rescue Helicopter crewman Dave Greenberg said. "I have been working on the helicopter for nearly 15 years and although I have seen people reluctant to be rescued, I have never met anyone who flatly refused. "

Rescue personnel finally retrieved the man from the rock -- by a boat.

FMI: www.phobiascured.com/fear_of_heights.htm