An Eketahuna farmhand was staring at an overheated water pump when it exploded. Seconds later, just running his hand down his face pulled away skin.
Ben Lilley, 23, speaking from his rural Eketahuna home where he was recovering yesterday, said he was working on a nearby dairy farm about 2.30pm on Sunday when the pump ran dry.
He shifted it from a well to a creek about 300m from his home and was priming it and loosening its primer cap.
"The shed had no water so I was in a bit of a hurry and there must have been so much pressure in it, it just went 'boof' in the old face - like a radiator cap on a car that's overheated. It was pretty brutal.
"I freaked out. I ripped my T-shirt off and ran my hand down my face and there was all this skin sitting in my hand."
Mr Lilley, who has been working on the dairy farm since earlier last year, said he rode a quad bike home, where his partner, Sam Tipene, urged him to call an ambulance.
"I told her at first not to call the ambulance. I just wanted to let the boss know what was going on and get under some cold water," said Mr Lilley.
"The pain hit after I hopped out of the shower. I was full-on shaking."
Ms Tipene said she knew the burns were serious as soon as he walked through the door and she eventually called an ambulance.
Emergency services had at first believed Mr Lilley, who had suffered second-degree burns in the incident, had been caught in a petrol explosion at the farm.
Two fire crews and ambulances were sent and soon afterwards a rescue helicopter.
Mr Lilley was flown to the plastics unit at Hutt Hospital, where injuries to his eyes and lungs were discounted after several assessments.
"I must have shut my eyes just in time. There's white lines where I held them closed. I was on morphine that first night and they kept worrying about my lungs and my eyesight.
"I was lucky my eyes and lungs are okay. I just look like Neopolitan ice cream - brown, pink and white."
Mr Lilley expects to be off work for several weeks and besides irritation from the burns, his major concern in the near future will be avoiding infection.
For the next two years, he has to avoid direct sunlight on the burns to protect the skin and lessen the chances of cancer.
"I can't shave for a while either, so I'll be looking like a hairy bushman soon as well."