Accident nearly ends stint in Antartica

Scott Base services manager Graeme Tod discovered hurrying to answer a phone call from his partner in Greytown was a dangerous business which almost jeopardised his much-coveted stint in Antarctica.
Rushing through a pitch-black vestibule he hit two balanced steel plates which came down, shaving a gash down his shin and pinning his feet to the floor. It took him some time to lift the plates away but he still managed to get to the phone. While talking to partner Vicki Eckford he mentioned he had blood pouring down his leg and maybe he should get it checked.
Further investigation discovered the gash, which Mr Tod described as being like "the tongue of a shoe all folded up" sitting on the base of his foot. "The pain wasn't too bad and I learned later it was because I had severed all the nerves." The muscles had not been affected and so he could still walk. The paramedics took over and Mr Tod was taken by ambulance "over the hill" to McMurdo Sound base hospital.
"For a few days it was touch and go whether I would be able to stay at Scott Base as I might need skin grafts back in New Zealand. I was devastated as I'd only been there nine days, just got my head around the job ahead of me for six months and there I was caste in a hospital bed," says Mr Tod.
However, skin grafts were not needed and 19 stitches have done their trick since the accident on October 14. Mr Tod has managed to get upright and continue his role of caring for the 85 New Zealanders working the summer at the base.
"Yesterday was the first day I have worn shoes again. I've had lots of funny looks greeting people off the planes in my carpet slippers," he said.
At the time of the accident, Mr Tod was in Sir Edmund Hillary's hut researching food menus. The hut is set up as a museum at Scott Base marking the adventurer's first visit in 1956.
Mr Tod is responsible for creating a menu for Sir Edmund's next visit on November 26 where 20 dignitaries will sit down to a meal similar to the one dished up at Bluff in 1956.
"Over the intercom came the message, there was a phone call, and that's when it all happened."
Mr Tod has linked up with another person from Greytown, young soldier Neil Skeet, who is an air dispatch rigger. He and Neil were spending yesterday together with the aim of Mr Tod sending back a report to the Times-Age on a day in the life of a soldier in Antarctica.
And, while Wairarapa is blistering in an early summer, the weekend at Scott Base was spent in "condition two" ? that's near-blizzard.
"You are only allowed outside if it's absolutely important as the wind chill factor is just too extreme." Condition one means no one is allowed out on any account.