A Far North man had to be airlifted to hospital after accidentally stabbing himself in an artery while butchering a cow.
The man was cutting up meat at Rawhiti, east of Russell, when he slipped and drove the knife into the top of his thigh around noon on Tuesday.
The blade struck an artery, causing a life-threatening bleed. He was driven to the medical centre in Russell, where St John Ambulance personnel applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
He was then flown in a serious condition to Whangarei Hospital by the Northland Electricity rescue helicopter.
St John intensive care paramedic Mark Going said the patient had lost a lot of blood due to the uncontrolled bleed but was expected to make a full recovery.
