The Star: January 11, 2024

The Star Thursday January 11 2024
6
NEWS
Speedy
lifesavers
rescue
paraglider
• By Dylan Smits
A SURF lifesaver has described
the tricky rescue of a paraglider
in heavy swells who crashed
onto rocks at Taylors Mistake.
Will Simmons and Callum
Gard were on duty on Saturday
when they saw a paraglider in
trouble about 3.30pm.
“We could see him dropping,
dropping, dropping, so we
launched the boat out and got
there as fast as we could,” said
Simmons.
It was a relief the paraglider
managed to land uninjured on
the rocks instead of in the water.
Simmons and Gard arrived
at the site in an inflatable rescue
boat within five minutes.
Simmons held the IRB in position
just long enough for the
paraglider, aged in his 30s, to get
onboard before jetting off.
“We had to get out of there
before the next wave hit. I don’t
know how he would have managed
to get from where he was
back up the hill. He needed us to
bring him back to shore.”
The paraglider, who had
misjudged the updraft, was
grateful for the rescue.
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IF YOU’RE a Christchurch
resident with a pup named Bella,
you’re certainly not alone.
There are 522 dogs named
Bella registered in Christchurch
and Banks Peninsula, making it
the most popular dog name in
the region.
Marion and Ron adopted their
Bella, a 5-year-old heading/collie
mix, in April last year.
“We’d been wanting a dog for
quite a while, but wasn’t sure
how to go about it,” said Marion.
“Back in our day there were
animals and livestock advertised
at the back of the newspaper, but
everything’s online now and we
don’t know how to work it so we
wondered how we could adopt a
dog.”
Marion and Ron made their
way to Christchurch’s Animal
Shelter and met with the team,
and then met a pup named Bella.
“We wandered down the kennels
and lots of the bigger dogs
were barking, but Bella came
Bella the huntaway/golden
retriever
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‘Bella’ leader of the pack
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NUMBER ONE NAME: Ron and Marion with Bella, who
shares her name with another 521 dogs in Christchurch.
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straight to the gate, wagging her
tail,” said Marion.
“She loves kids and has an awesome
nature. She’s always on bird
patrol and runs up and down the
section on the fence line to chase
away the birds – she’s far too
slow to catch any though.”
Another Bella was adopted
from the shelter in May by residents
Courtney and Jotham.
The pair says while they briefly
considered renaming the huntaway/golden
retriever since it’s
such a common name, Bella was
there to stay.
“We were so happy to be able
to adopt her,” said Courtney.
“She is the cuddliest dog and
loves nothing more than hopping
into bed with us in the morning
or night.”
The second-most popular dog
name in Christchurch is Charlie
(465).
Some dog owners took naming
Christchurch’s most
popular dog names
Bella (522), Charlie
(465), Poppy (440), Molly
(385), Max (378), Ruby
(372), Luna (366), Daisy
(302), Archie (294) and
Rosie (273)
Most popular breeds
Labrador retriever
(5272), staffordshire bull
terrier (2983), border
collie (2700), bichon
frise (1841), jack russell
terrier (1572)
inspiration from their favourite
All Black, well-known rockstars
or fictional characters.
There are three Richie McPaw’s
(and one Richie McCaw), four
Sonny Bill’s and an Israel Dogg
living in Christchurch. Yet
while there’s five Jordie’s, two
Beauden’s and two Scott’s, there’s
unfortunately no Barrett’s.
You might come across an
Indiana Bones, a Tommy Shelby,
John Snow, Xena Princess Warrior
or Obi Wan Kenobi at your
local dog park.
You may even hear a call
for a Billie Joel, Bon Jovi,
Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder or
Bob Marley.
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17 th March 2024
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