Big thanks from boatie to rescuer | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

When he saw a boatie in trouble Aaron Donelley didn't hesitate to launch his jetboat and speed to the rescue - but he didn't have time to change his shoes.

The 34-year-old chief executive of Donelley Sawmilling Ltd rescued Rotorua's Tony Thompson, 62, after his yacht was capsized by a gust of wind on Lake Rotorua recently.

All Mr Thompson could remember of his rescuer was that he was wearing a pair of "black business shoes". In fact, they were a pair of brown cowboy boots.

Forgetting to get his rescuer's name, Mr Thompson asked The Daily Post to help find him.

It has taken a while to track him down. This week there was a breakthrough after Mr Donelley mentioned the rescue over dinner with a friend, entrepreneur Barry Coleman. Mr Coleman was aware The Daily Post was looking for the mystery hero.

Through The Daily Post, the pair met for the first time yesterday since the rescue.

Mr Donelley, a 34-year-old father of two, is a bit reluctant to be called a hero, saying it's something anyone would have done put in the same position.

"Living here we see things. It's just what people do."

He lives on the shore of Lake Rotorua with views right out to Mokoia Island and beyond from his Koutu living room.

Mr Donelley was getting ready to go out to dinner with wife Gina about 6pm when he noticed a yacht in difficulty from his lakefront lounge window.

He's lived on the Koutu property for four years and knows when "things don't look right" on the water. "You know what is right and what is not. The bow was down," he said.

Viewing the situation through his telescope, Mr Donelley launched his 210 jet boat called Delemma.

"I thought 'holy hell, what are we looking for?'. I didn't know if anyone was caught up in the rigging or trapped under the boat."

When he reached the yacht Mr Donelley couldn't find anyone and started to search the water, heading away from where Mr Thompson was bobbing around.

His wife Gina watched her husband's boat moving in the opposite direction to the boatie so she rang his cellphone. But he had left it on the kitchen table in his haste.

She rang the Coast Guard but her husband rescued Mr Thompson before they arrived.

"I couldn't find anything so I shot back to double-check no one was trapped under the water. I was going to hook the boat up and tow it back in because I thought they might have swum back to shore," Mr Donelley said.

However, he heard a faint yelling in the distance and saw Mr Thompson in the water waving his arms. He'd been in the water about 45 minutes.

"All I thought was 'thank God for that. I'd done the right thing'," he said.

About twice a year Mr Donelley helps people he has seen in trouble on the lake.

Yesterday Mr Thompson gave him a bottle of Pinot Noir 2006 he was saving for a special occasion.

His first words to his saviour were "thank you".

"Without his assistance it could have very easily turned into something quite nasty," he told The Daily Post.