A maintenance worker who had his arm crushed in a conveyor belt at the Imlay meat processing plant on Saturday, endured "horrendous" pain to tell his rescuers how to free him.
Tony Healey was working on the conveyor belt when he was pulled into the machine by his right arm, whichbecame entangled around a roller.
The 48-year-old, who is a longtime worker at Affco, was trapped for more than 30 minutes before another maintenance worker working in another area of the plant found him and raised the alarm.
Wanganui Fire Brigade senior station officer Jemal Weston said the rescue was a serious team effort between ambulance staff, police and fire staff.
"He was in horrendous pain ... he was really suffering."
While ambulance officers administered pain relief, the man explained to police and fire officers how to free him from the machine.
"He told us what tools to use to remove the housing around the roller where his arm was stuck," Mr Weston said.
Police used the tools from the man's tool kit and also got extra tools from the fire truck, Mr Weston said.
"It was a really great team effort."
Mr Healey was operated on at Wanganui Hospital on Saturday night and was in the Intensive Care Unit until yesterday afternoon when he was moved to a surgical ward.
Wanganui Hospital communications adviser Sue Campion yesterday described Mr Healey's condition as improving and stable.
Affco manager Brent Dowman said the incident had been reported to the Labour Department.
"I can't comment beyond that," Mr Dowman said.
The department confirmed it was investigating Saturday's incident.
ABOUT IMLAY Imlay processes mutton, lamb, offal and veal. Annually it handles 860,000 lambs, 150,000 mutton and 130,000 calves. Only Affco's Wairoa plant on the East Coast processes more lamb, with 900,000 punched through annually.
Imlay also operates a rendering plant producing MBM and tallow.
At its peak Imlay employs 730 staff.
Affco processes more than 150,000 tonnes of meat and meat by-products every year. The majority of this is exported to more than 60 countries throughout the world, generating a turnover in excess of $1 billion.
