A whitewater sports expert told a New Zealand court that a rescue rope could have saved the life of a young Worcestershire woman who drowned on an extreme sports river trip.
Emily Jordan, 21, from Trimpley, died while riverboarding - riding a body board on fast-flowing rapids - after becoming trapped in the Kawarau River Gorge on New Zealand's South Island in April last year.
Trip organising company Black Sheep Adventures Ltd and director Brad McLeod both deny three charges under the Health and Safety in Employment Act.
Yesterday, trained river boarding guide and former national kayaking representative Donald Calder told Queenstown District Court that having a rope at the scene would have increased the guides' chances of saving Ms Jordan's life.
"Even if her shoulder were dislocated while being pulled out, I am sure that this would have been a better outcome than drowning," he said.
Mr Calder's evidence contradicted that of the company's former operations manager Nick Kendrick, who told the court ropes could be a hazard if they became tangled.
But Mr Calder said the fear of accidental deployment of the rope was "unfounded and uneducated".
"The rope is contained in the throw-bag, which has velcro and a dome. You have to open the bag to pull the rope out," he said.
Earlier Mr Kendrick said Mr McLeod had made efforts to improve safety standards since taking ownership of Mad Dog River Boarding.
The ratio of river boarders to guides had been reduced from 5:1 to 4:1 and a rafting company style hazard register had been created.
But a requirement that staff attend an external Swift Water Rescue course had been removed from the company's Safe Operational Plan, a document required for resource consent. The Queenstown Lakes District Council had not endorsed that change at the time of the accident.
Mr Kendrick said the business was operating with no specific governing regulations, as they had not yet been created.
He had spent six seasons with Mad Dog River Boarding before Miss Jordan's death on April 29.
Mr Kendrick said he had navigated the Kawarau River about 2,000 times with 25,000 customers and there had never been a serious incident involving the rock under which Ms Jordan got trapped.
The first to reach Ms Jordan as she struggled to get free, he said there was nothing rescuers could do to save her. She was trapped underwater for 20 minutes until another boat carrying ropes arrived and freed her.
Miss Jordan's boyfriend, Jonny Armour, who was forced to watch helplessly as her body was pulled from the water by rescuers, told the court she was a strong swimmer and that they had not been warned about the risk of getting trapped under rocks, or the chances of survival if this happened.
The trial continues.
