It was on the footpath, it wasn't attached to a stingray and it appeared the barb had been there for some time, Hare said.
The barb had penetrated about 8mm into the ball of his right foot.
"I was wiggling it and I had a good look at it and I saw the blades and they were sharp so I thought no, I won't pull it," Hare said.
"I was given [painkillers] and I was just sitting there, looking at it."
About three hours after the accident, the TrustPower TECT rescue helicopter arrived and airlifted Hare to Tauranga Hospital.
"[The helicopter] came out of nowhere and I thought: this is mean.
"They strapped me in, told me to hang on and enjoy the ride. [My foot] wasn't sore when I hopped into the helicopter. It was my first time in a helicopter and I thought it was pretty cool."
X-rays showed the barb had only penetrated soft tissue however an operation was needed to extract the barb without causing further damage to his foot. He spent last night in hospital and returned to his Welcome Bay home yesterday on crutches, under strict orders to rest.
Hare told the Bay of Plenty Times he was frustrated being immobile but was pleased the injury wasn't as serious as he initially thought.
He said his friends had given him a bit of a hard time but he thought the injury was "pretty cool".
When asked what he was going to do with the stingray barb, Hare said: "I'm going to frame it, but when it was in my foot I wanted to smash it."
