Australian radio broadcaster Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli was rushed to hospital on Tuesday afternoon after severing a tendon in his thumb during a DIY accident.
The 46-year-old Nova presenter sliced open his hand while helping co-host Kate Ritchie build a costume for her daughter, Mae, ahead of Book Week. He was promptly taken to hospital for emergency surgery and now faces three months of intensive rehabilitation to prevent permanent damage.
Wipfli explained the incident to listeners, describing how he was trying to prepare a wooden pole to construct a prop. "We needed a cut in the end of a bit of dowel or like the end of a broom, so that we could stick some foam in to make a spear," Wipfli said.
"So I took to the task, I'm not afraid of the tools, but all of a sudden when Kate started filming, I think I thought I better put on a show here. That's where I chopped through the skin and through the tendon on my thumb," he added.
Book Week is an annual event celebrated across Australian schools to encourage reading, with students traditionally dressing up as their favourite book characters.
Emergency surgery and rehabilitation
Following the accident, Wipfli's colleagues acted quickly to secure medical attention, putting him in an Uber so he could be prepped for surgery at the hospital.
Surgeons had to trim the damaged edges of the tendon before stitching the piece back together. Wipfli now faces a strict recovery routine to restore full mobility to his hand.
"They had to trim the ends of the broken tendon and stitch them back together," Wipfli said. "So now I've got three months of hand rehab and thumb rehab starts tomorrow. I just have to be gentle for the first three months in terms of too much movement, but it's bandaged up pretty heavy. So obviously, there's a few people asking questions and at the moment I'm just running with 'shark attack'."
Wipfli is a prominent Australian media personality best known for co-hosting Nova's national drive show alongside Kate Ritchie and Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald. Ritchie is a former television actress and radio presenter, while Fitzgerald is a former professional Australian rules footballer turned broadcast host.
Return to air and Book Week comments
Despite the severe injury and surgical procedure, Wipfli returned to the airwaves by Thursday afternoon to host the drive show alongside Fitzgerald and Ritchie.
During the broadcast, Wipfli joked about the pressures of school events that led to his injury. "Book Week is just the worst," he told his co-hosts. "Like, I understand that it's to motivate kids to read books and, go and grab an outfit and off you go, but there's more to it. It's become competitive. That's where I got carried away."
Wipfli also updated his fans on social media, posting a video and photos from his hospital bed showing his tightly bandaged hand. He shared a lighthearted "get ready with me" video highlighting his hospital outfit, including his compression socks and medical gown.
"Just thought I'd do a quick get ready with me for hand surgery," he joked in the clip. "I love this gown, it's very medical chic, which is beautiful. The tone of it. It connects and hangs off my shoulder, makes it look really soft."
Wipfli shares three children with his wife, Lisa Wipfli: sons Theodore, aged nine, and Jack, aged eight, as well as four-year-old daughter Francesca.
