KEY POINTS:
After a marathon operation to save his right arm from amputation, a Taupo teenager says he will work with chainsaws again because he is confident in his ability to manage them.
Troy Griffin, 16, was working at Taupo Firewood Supplies on Tuesday when the chainsaw he was using on a log suddenly kicked back, striking him in the head, then flying down his upper torso and slicing up under his armpit.
"It didn't stop spinning," he said. A protective shield on the machine's hand piece - a safety device designed to cut the chainsaw's power if a kickback occurs - was missing as it had previously been broken off by another worker, Troy said. "There was blood squirting everywhere."
He ran about 20 metres around a front-end loader to two other men, who saw the extent of the injuries to his body and head and immediately bundled him into a car and dashed to hospital, three kilometres away.
"They got some towels and put pressure on it [the wound]. "They were trying to keep me talking to keep me awake but my head dropped a couple of times apparently."
While at Taupo Hospital he lost consciousness. He was flown to Waikato Hospital by the Lion Foundation Rescue Helicopter for immediate surgery to save his arm.
"I'm really lucky. It cut through my muscles and just missed my lungs and ribs." Beside the severe cut to his arm, he also received a deep laceration just above his right eye.
Waikato plastic surgeon Dr Ahmed Alkadhi led a large team of specialists during the reconstructive procedure. He was assisted by surgeon Dr Grant Christey, director of trauma services.
Dr Christey said medical disciplines involved in the operation included specialists in trauma, plastics, ophthalmology (eye care), and vascular surgery.
Two anaesthetists were also on hand, as well as registrars and nurses. There were up to 10 people in the operating room at any one time, he said.
"Our first priority was to stop the bleeding - he had damaged a large vein in the armpit." The deep laceration in the chest wall had narrowly missed the main chest cavity.
Beside nearly losing his arm, the teen was lucky to have also kept his sight in the right eye, Dr Christey said.
Taupo Firewood Supplies is owned by Troy's friend Darrell Sandbrook. Troy is not employed by the firm.
"I was helping out and gave him a hand - at the moment he's got no workers."
Although Troy said he had not done a course in operating chainsaws, he believed he was better equipped to handle them than those who had been tertiary-trained.
He said he had been taught by some of the best and most experienced bushmen around, and vowed to continue working with the machines.
"My granddad worked in the bush all his life using chainsaws."
The chainsaw Troy was using was a Stihl 066, a heavy-duty machine designed for working with large pieces of timber.
Troy believed he would fully recover from the injuries.
This week's accident was not the first time Troy has injured himself with a chainsaw.
About five months ago he was working at home cutting boards when the machine sliced through his steel cap boot and put a deep wound in his big toe, he said.
And the incident two days ago was also "not the worst thing" to have happened to his head.
About seven years ago his brother shot him in the back of the head with a slug gun - the firearm's safety spring was faulty.
A Health and Safety spokeswoman for the Department of Labour was yesterday checking whether the accident would be investigated.
