Fisherman loses fingers in accident at sea

A badly injured fisherman walked to a rescue helicopter in the Far North yesterday as a medic carried his two detached fingers.

The fisherman lost his fingers in an accident on the fishing boat Hirere in Spirits Bay near Cape Reinga.

He was rescued by another boat and taken to Houhora where the Northland Emergency Services Trust rescue helicopter was waiting.

Chief pilot Pete Turnbull said the injured crewman walked to the helicopter about midnight for the flight to Middlemore Hospital in Auckland. His fingers were carried in ice for 70-minute flight.

Surgeons were later condering whether it was possible to reattach the fingers but no further details were available.

- NZPA