By LOUISA CLEAVE
A woman's good deed to help tow a broken-down craft to shore on Lake Taupo went horribly wrong when a rope between two vessels severed her hand.
Surgeons at Waikato Hospital worked for eight hours yesterday to save the hand, which was left attached only by soft tissue.
The microscopic
surgery involved reattaching millimetre-long blood vessels, using vessels from other parts of the body to replace damaged ones, and reconstructing bones with titanium plates and screws.
Plastic surgeon Mike Klaassen said the operation appeared to have been a success, but the next 10 to 24 hours were crucial.
The 50-year-old woman will never regain full use of her hand.
A spokesman for the Tranz Rail rescue helicopter service, which took her to hospital, said the woman had been on her way back to shore with her husband.
They came across a boat in distress near Jerusalem Bay and started towing it.
The accident happened while the woman was holding a rope connecting the two vessels and the other boat veered away.
The rope had been wrapped around her hand and palm, just above the thumb.
"It caused a very severe, virtual amputation through the palm," Mr Klaassen said. "The fingers were hanging on by soft tissue."
"We really have to re-establish blood supply in 10 hours of the injury or the chances of survival aren't that good."
The woman was in a stable condition last night.
