Searchers recovered the body today of an Irish hiker who died in New Zealand after falling 800 feet into a rocky ravine a week earlier, officials said.
Belfast man Donal Deery (29) died on January 12th after falling from the Cascade Saddle near Wanaka town while trying to save his girlfriend, who fell into the same ravine after slipping on soft snow.
Other hikers abseiled down and resuscitated the woman, 27-year-old Ms Helen McClements, but were unable to revive Mr Deery.
Ms McClements' back was broken and she remains hospitalised in southern New Zealand's Dunedin city. It wasn't immediately clear where she was from.
Wanaka Search and Rescue and Alpine Cliff Rescue team members recovered Mr Deery's body after bad weather hindered their efforts for a week, search and rescue co-ordinator Sgt Aaron Nicholson said in a statement.
He died trying to save his girlfriend, Sgt Nicholson said earlier.
"I've told his parents he's a real hero." Mr Deery's body will be taken to Dunedin Hospital for a post-mortem examination before a coroner releases his body for repatriation to Ireland.
Wanaka is about 500 miles south west of the capital, Wellington.
