Qld: Rescue pioneer retires

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Qld: Rescue pioneer retires

By John Sheed

BRISBANE, April 30 AAP - Hayden Kenny has stopped jumping out of helicopters.

The former lifesaver and ironman retired today after he "jumped into the water moretimes than I can recall" in 25 years with what is now known as the Energex Community RescueHelicopter service at Mooloolaba on Queensland.

Mr Kenny, 67, father of ironman and Olympian Grant Kenny, said the service was theidea of two Sunshine Coast businessmen who chartered a helicopter to watch over beachesat Christmas in 1978.

"If you saw something, you landed on the beach or got one person to jump in the waterwith a rescue tube or something," Mr Kenny said.

He said two incidents stood out in his rescue career - the search for Childers backpackerhostel arsonist Robert Long and the helicopter crash that killed former Skyhooks frontmanGraeme "Shirley" Strachan.

Strachan, 49, died in August 2001 when the helicopter he was piloting crashed intoMount Archer, just north of Brisbane.

"I was the dedicated crewman on that day to be winched in to the scene," Mr Kenny said.

"We had a task ... to go and locate a sighting and we set off in the usual manner,equipped and full of enthusiasm together with the paramedic and people like that for treatand retrieve, and of course unfortunately once having got there it didn't turn out thatway."

Local knowledge helped him find Long who had fled into the bush near Howard as policetracked him.

"My father was a coalminer in that area and I used to go for school holidays out thereand I knew pretty much all the trees and everything else by name," Mr Kenny said.

"We received a small bit of information that indicated that this bloke was travellingin a certain direction and I was able to enhance that into a position where he would be.

"And once we got overhead with the helicopter he stopped in his tracks on the groundand the dog squads were able to apprehend him."

Mr Kenny, born in Maryborough but a resident of Alexandra Headland for more than 40years, said his life had been "damned exciting" but he didn't go into the surf much anymore.

"When I first surfed Noosa years ago I was on my own - the trouble is I didn't appreciate it.

"Now of course if you turn up there's 80 to 100 all crawling over one another and Ijust don't get a buzz out of that."

He said he and wife Fae (Fae) planned to travel Australia in retirement.

AAP jfs/sc/cjh/bwl

KEYWORD: KENNY (PIX AVAILABLE)