Henry Mahara, who is recovering in Westmead Hospital following emergency surgery on Friday, was splitting yellow box at his West Bathurst home when a moment’s inattention with a hydraulic wood splitter resulted in him severing two of his fingers.

In shock, he ran to the back door screaming for his wife to help. What he had forgotten was she had gone into town shopping.

In the meantime, his 11-year-old son Preston, who had heard his dad screaming, came to assist.

Finding the two severed fingers on the chopping block, Preston picked them up and put them on ice in a plastic bag.

Losing blood at an alarming rate, Henry received first-aid from his elder son Nicolas, who then got his dad to Bathurst Base Hospital quickly for medical treatment.

Henry said his sons saved his fingers and his life.

The fingers have since been successfully re-attached.

Nicolas said he was not sure how he kept a clear head during the emergency, but said instinct set in.

“Dad was yelling out and then I saw him,” he said.

“It was pretty freaky.

“Budda [Preston] picked up his fingers and went inside and got a towel and some ice, and we got another towel for Dad’s hand.”

Nicolas, who also flew to Westmead in the emergency chopper with his dad, said he didn’t think what he and Preston did was “a big deal”, 

but was relieved his father would make a full recovery.

Recalling the accident, Henry said he was in the front yard splitting the wood when he lost concentration for a second.

“I had one hand on the block and the other hand on the lever. I bent down and the next thing I know I’d cut off two fingers,” he said.

“I just couldn’t believe what I’d done.

“I looked down and there was blood squirting everywhere.

“I ran to the door to get my wife, but it hadn’t clicked she’d gone shopping.

“Because I was screaming, my 11-year-old came to see what was wrong. He picked up the two fingers, ran inside and got a plastic bag and put them on ice.

“It was incredible.

“Because they got me there so quickly, they managed to save both my fingers.

“The nurses and specialists said they [the boys] did everything right.

“I really think if they hadn’t acted so quickly I would have died. They saved my life.” 

Henry said he couldn’t believe his children acted so well under pressure.

“They both did cub scouts and learnt first-aid when they were young and their mother’s a nurse as well, so she has gone through what to do if something goes wrong,” he said.

Henry was stabilised at Bathurst Base, then airlifted to Westmead Hospital in Sydney, where it looks like he will remain for a couple of weeks.

Following emergency surgery, specialists believe his fingers will return to full function.

“At the moment I’ve got leeches on the wound; they help with blood supply to the area,” he said.

“Everything the doctors have done has been incredible.

“But I’m so proud of my boys. They are my heroes.”