A LIONS supporter whose life was saved by Gareth Chilcott 12 years ago after a white-water rafting accident on the previous tour to New Zealand returned to the country yesterday for the first time since the near-tragedy for a surprise reunion with the former England prop.
Isaac Borrego would have drowned without the intervention of Chilcott, who grabbed him in an icy torrent on the Mohaka River, near Rotorua, after their boat capsized. With one hand and sheer brute strength, Chilcott held the Spaniard’s head above water and with the other clung to an overhanging bush for 40 minutes until help arrived.
The story made headlines here and in Britain and Chilcott, now 48, became a reluctant hero. Yesterday, with the help of The Times, the pair met up again at Christchurch airport when Borrego arrived to follow the last three weeks of this year’s tour. Borrego, from Gijón, who is a fervent rugby supporter, could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw Chilcott’s distinctive figure.
The pair spontaneously hugged each other, then stood back and said together “No water rafting!” and laughed. Borrego, a non-swimmer, was visibly moved to meet Chilcott, a tour leader here with Gulliver’s Sports Travel, based in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. “This man saved my life. I owe him everything,” he added.
The accident happened in June 1993. Chilcott had already taken one party out and returned the next day for a second expedition. However, heavy overnight rain had swollen the river and the waters were dangerous for the six men on board, among them two expert guides.
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“We went around a bend,” Chilcott said. “Overnight, a log had got jammed between rocks. The raft had nowhere to go and tipped over. Everyone came out. I lost my helmet after hitting the tree trunk. I went down the river thinking, ‘Wow, I am feeling groggy.’ It was pretty scary. I was trying to keep from passing out because I thought that would be it. Once I got some air in and had shaken my head, I realised it was a pretty dire situation.”
He turned around in the foaming torrent and saw Borrego being swept downstream, helpless and intermittently disappearing under the water. “Isaac had lost his lifejacket and the heavy big woollen jumper he was wearing was dragging him down,” Chilcott added. “I grabbed him. Whereas the baggy jumper was a hindrance in the water, it then gave me something to get hold of. Once I did, I wasn’t going to let go of him or the bush. I pulled him close to me and waited. It was life or death.
“It seemed a long time before help came. It got very cold, it was glacial water. The next fear was hypothermia. It was nerve-racking. I am a scuba diver and a strong swimmer, but I couldn’t have swum against the current. Isaac was very cold and scared. I could see it in his eyes. After about 20 minutes, somebody from over the top of the gorge shouted down that help was on its way. It was a matter then of hanging on.
“I managed to manoeuvre away from the main thrust of the current, where we were slightly protected from the main gush of water. The rescuers eventually arrived and with ropes hauled us out. When we got out, most of the locals said we should not have been on the river, it was so wild. I have never been rafting since and will never go again.”
Borrego recalls little of the incident that almost cost him his life. The 61-year-old, who has played and coached rugby for more than 35 years in his native Gijón, said: “Suddenly the boat was upside down and I was in the water. I don’t remember much more. It was only the one person who reached out with one hand who saved me. It was Gareth.
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“He brought me up from below the surface. I think I was under for about 30 or 40 seconds; up, down, under again. All was water. I was spinning around, hitting rocks in the water. I was dying. I am very happy to have found this man who saved my life.”