A soldier vying for a spot in the elite Special Air Service (SAS) is in intensive care after collapsing during an intense selection activity.
Lieutenant Alexander Teira Cowan, 25, was taking part in an 8km run with other selection candidates, wearing military uniform and carrying about 10kg of equipment, through the Hunua Ranges southeast of Auckland on January 25, army chief Major General Tim Keating says.
The soldier collapsed and fell unconscious suffering "heat-related injuries", after about 80 minutes and towards the end of the exercise, he says.
Mr Cowan received immediate first aid assistance, and an army medic began treating him within five minutes of his collapse, before being taken to hospital by ambulance.
His condition had not improved and he remained in intensive care in a serious condition, Maj Gen Keating says.
An inquiry into the incident will be carried out.
The incident follows a difficult year for the SAS, when two of its soldiers were killed in Afghanistan.
Lance Corporal Leon Smith died after being shot in the head in September during a joint operation with the Afghan Crisis Response Unit in Wardak province, near the Afghan capital of Kabul.
A month earlier, Corporal Doug Grant died after being shot in the chest during a battle at British Council offices in the Afghan capital.
NZN