Man injures arms with angle grinder

A Whitianga man in his 70’s was airlifted to Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital after severely injuring his arm with an angle grinder on Thursday. Photo: ARHT

‘Tough as nails' is the only way to describe a Coromandel man who severely injured his arm with an angle grinder on Thursday.

Auckland Rescue Helicopter trust spokesperson Kerrie Spicer says following the accident, the man who is in his 70's drove himself from his home to the Whitianga Ambulance Station to seek help.

'Crew tasked to Whitianga for a male patient in his 70's who suffered a severe arm injury as a result of an accident with an angle grinder at home.

'He drove himself to the ambulance station, who subsequently treated and transferred him to the helipad.”

The man was then airlifted to Auckland's Middlemore Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

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4 comments

Poor bugger

Posted on 12-05-2017 11:26 | By Papamoaner

Hope he gets his full arm function back. I wonder if the side handle was missing from the grinder? The problem with these grinders is "gyroscopic precession". If the wheel is attitudinally disturbed, eg; by biting and wrenching, the whole machine will lurch violently at 90 degrees to the wheel axis of rotation - an unexpected and violent flick that takes mere parts of a second to happen. This is a very common accident and it's surprising there isn't more publicity about the importance of the side handle. Unfortunately, those handles are removable for swapping sides for left-handed operators, and they sometimes get left off. best of luck for a full recovery mate.


THIS IS AWESOME

Posted on 12-05-2017 11:40 | By old trucker

This guy is like me hard as nails,another awesome job by rescue chopper, well done Ambulance staff, HEROS in my book,No1 Sunlive keep up awesome NEWS,Thankyou 10-4.


Another problem papamoaner,

Posted on 12-05-2017 12:54 | By R. Bell

is that people sometimes take the guard off in order to get maximum from the disk. It's silly but when your a long way from town, we all take silly risks. Most get away with it. Being "tough as nails" only makes these things worse. Robin Bell.


@R.Bell

Posted on 12-05-2017 15:43 | By Papamoaner

True! Removing the guard is asking for trouble. Always standing behind the spark train is a good habit too. If a wheel or stone disintegrates, the debris follows the spark train, so doesn't have to pass through your guts first.


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