Wild pig attack
A broken leg, a suspected broken back… and help is several days walk away.
Nikos had been pig hunting many times before, but this time the pig turned on him and broke his leg!
Captain Irwin Hodder and first officer Richie Axon were en route to Tabubil when they received the call to divert to the remote airstrip at Blackwara in the mountains of PNG.
There is no medical centre or aid post at Blackwara, so the only way to get medical help for Nikos would have been for his tribesman to carry him on a stretcher for several days.
Thankfully MAF was called!
Once on the ground the pilots and staff who were on the plane quickly hooked up six seats to the side of the fuselage to make room for his bush-material stretcher.
With Nikos onboard, the Twin Otter continued on its way to Tabubil where there is a well-equipped hospital to provide Nikos with the treatment he needed.