Christchurch's Westpac chopper is celebrating 25 years of life-saving missions.
Neil Scott, a Christchurch Westpac Helicopter pilot, says, "A lot of people come up to me and say gidday, you saved one place or another'".
When you're in the business of saving lives this long, the birthday guest list can include a lot of grateful people.
Don, a "great fan", was out fishing when he was swept out to sea.
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them," he said.
The chopper came to the aid of Dean Symes, whose lungs burst while on a diving trip.
"Without getting that fast response back to the hospital, I wouldn't have made it," Mr Symes said.
Other rescues didn't always turn out as well.
Long-time pilot Neil Scott remembers being one of the first to arrive at the 1995 Cave Creek disaster, when a scenic viewing platform in Paparoa National Park collapsed, killing 14 people.
"We had to go down to the level where the platform had been to put the paramedics on the bottom," Mr Scott said.
But there's no rest, they'll still need help.
"You can't put a price on a life but the reality is that we rely heavily on Westpac, but also on communities across New Zealand," Westpac Rescue Helicopter CEO Christine Price said.
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