KEY POINTS:
Max Wakefield, who was speared by a stingray a week ago, had to return to hospital after suffering worse injuries than originally thought.
Mr Wakefield, 46, was diving for crayfish near Blackhead Point in Hawkes Bay when the ray pierced his 14mm wetsuit and plunged its barb into his belly.
Doctors at Hawke's Bay Hospital, where he was taken by rescue helicopter, initially thought the barb had penetrated only fatty tissue, but further examination revealed it pierced a stomach muscle.
"It went right through the muscle and almost pierced the lining into my intestines," Mr Wakefield said from his home in Hastings yesterday.
He was recalled to the hospital on Sunday because doctors feared an infection and wanted to scan the wound for any material left behind by the stingray.
Stingrays shed a membrane when they sting which can then turn toxic.
Doctors kept Mr Wakefield in overnight to check for signs of fluid build-up, which would indicate the wound was infected, but finding none they discharged him and told him to continue his antibiotics. The original examination of the wound found the barb had penetrated 5.5cm. Mr Wakefield was discharged the same day with painkillers and antibiotics.
The self-employed flooring contractor remains off work and said his recovery had been slow, although there were signs of improvement.
"I'm not getting any worse," he said. "It's really starting to itch which is a good sign for a wound. It means it is healing."
He had been forced to sleep on one side for the last week and agreed the stingray was "mean". "Yeah, the bugger. He's probably saying the same about me actually, disturbing him and everything."
Mr Wakefield, an experienced diver used to seeing stingrays, was stung after inadvertently swimming on to the 1m ray as it lay hidden in sand next to crayfish.
He has another doctor's appointment today and said he would not forget his encounter with the stingray in a hurry.
"I'll never forget that pain. It was just unreal, unbelievable, really bad," he said.
But he was determined he would be better in time for a holiday with his wife and three young sons in Australia. "This time next week I'll be sliding down a big slide at Water World on the Gold Coast," he said.
