‘Poppa' has spent a chunk of his life serving others, running search and rescue, saving lives. So it's ironic there's no-one, or nothing, to save his life.

'Pretty much in a nutshell really,” sighs ‘Poppa' aka John Barton – the brains and effort behind Tauranga Youth Search and Rescue.

A broken heart

'It's a broken heart,” explains John. 'A very broken heart.” He's had numerous coronaries since 2013, open heart surgery in 2016, and he's on borrowed time. 'After a major heart attack a few months ago, they sent me home from hospital because they can't do anything for me.”

'Make the best of what you've got and the time you've got,” they told Poppa, because it's not long. The man who's been hunting, shooting, searching and rescuing all his life, can't even walk to his letterbox and back these days. But he's philosophical. 'That's the hand that's been dealt me.”

John's dicky heart nearly broke a young heart. 'I was devastated I might be losing him,” says Tylah Wardrope. John is Tylah's grandfather, her Poppa. 'He's my hero, my idol. We do everything together.” And in a touching tribute she even wrote a song to express her feelings and gratitude to the man.

Poppa reciprocates with a story of pride. 'The weekend Tylah turned 14 she spent on a solo camp – Friday night, all day Saturday, Saturday night, in the bush on the Kaimai Range, all on her own.” Tylah's friends apparently all cheered and yahooed her back to camp on Sunday afternoon.

Veins of green

Poppa likes that story because his veins flow green – he loves the bush, the outdoors, and now Tylah shares the love. John's chatting with The Weekend Sun as a simple gesture acknowledging a life well spent and enjoyed, and a life of achievement and success with search and rescue. Now John's mantle has been passed to Tylah. 'I was very shy but YSAR helped me over that – got me doing stuff I never thought I was capable of doing.”

YSAR – Tauranga Youth Search and Rescue – as they say, it's learning to survive, thrive and save lives in the bush, junior LandSAR, junior search and rescue. It's John Barton's baby.

'In 2007 I was at an exercise in the Kaimai Range and saw a whole lot of little people in orange hi-vis vests being winched aboard an Iroqois helicopter. They were just kids.” It was the Hamilton YSAR, and he though ‘wow, fantastic'.

'I'd been at a search and rescue conference and all you could see was grey heads, bald heads and near-deads.” He recognised the need for young heads – young, willing and intelligent heads to replace the old hands.

John and some of his colleagues seized on the Hamilton model and pestered for a Tauranga YSAR. Soon he was holding weekly classroom-based search and rescue study at Otumoetai College, then monthly camps to put theory into practice.

Of course, it was only time before John's right-hand girl, a shy-but-gifted 14-year-old piano and guitar player and songwriter called Tylah, joined YSAR.

Fell in love

'I went out with Poppa on a camp and fell in love with it. Then I was in YSAR getting over my shyness, doing stuff I never thought I was capable of doing, stuff the average teenager never gets to do.”

Tylah was also there in 2016 when Poppa went to Wellington to pick up the Youth Group of the Year Award. 'That was the pinnacle,” says John. So he retired.

'The health was also failing and I was limited in what I could do or achieve.”

John's first experience with Search and Rescue was on the receiving end. The man who would later manage, coach and mentor in search and rescue, got lost in the Kaimanawas for two days. A tad embarrassing.

'I was sitting outside a hut when a helicopter dropped off some searchers to look for me. They asked me if my name was John and I said ‘yup'.” Lost man found, job done. John was jammed in the back of the helicopter and flown out.

'That day I had my first chopper ride, my first ride in a police car and my first ride in an ambulance.” There was also the thrill of being found and being reunited with family. The experience served him well in his own work with search and rescue.

'Now I love the bush too,” says Tylah. 'And I am very grateful and proud because Poppa has guided me to where I am today.” Tylah wrote her song for John as he lay dangerously ill in hospital after major heart surgery.

Legacy

'So many lives to save, so many lives to touch,” the song goes. 'You are who I want to be, so hold my hand and tell me you're still here.”

Perhaps they can sing a duo while doing a roadie next month. They're off to a search and rescue camp at Mangetopopo at Tongariro. John is seizing the moment. 'We wouldn't miss it for the world. If I can't drive, Tylah can.” John's legacy is in good hands.