Tony Barton of Cattle Street, Binalong is lucky to be alive after his chainsaw rebounded off a netting fence whilst he was cutting log rail fence posts on his Binalong property on Tuesday, December 6.

Rebounding from the netting, the chainsaw narrowly missed his body, but sliced straight through his arm at about 2.55pm. 

Mr Barton’s partner Christine Partridge was on the property at the time and contacted emergency services immediately.  He was flown by the Snowy Hydro Helicopter to Canberra Hospital in a serious condition before undergoing surgery.

The Binalong Rescue Squad, a part of the NSW Volunteer Rescue Association Inc, Yass Police and Yass Ambulance all attended the scene. 

“If Christine hadn’t been there it would have been a completely different outcome,” he told the Tribune following his surgery. “And the Binalong Rescue Squad, they were there immediately. Both of the boys were calm and took control of the situation.

“They are the real story in this incident, the squad, as well as Christine, are the heroes of the day. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them.”

The Snowy Hydro Helicopter dropped Mr Barton to Canberra Hospital within four hours of the accident, which he says effectively saved his arm.

“The doctors said I was lucky given the situation, because the damaged tissue starts dying after four hours,” he said. “So it was a great sequence of events that took it from going terribly bad, to panning out ok – Plus, I got a helicopter ride out of it.”

Mr Barton received both micro and plastic surgery on his arm. Although he will never have the same mobility he once had, his arm was saved. 

“They [doctors] had a fair bit of work to do. But now I’ve got movement in my fingers and some ligament damage, and I know how lucky I am.”

His recovery time is predicted to be around three months and his rehabilitation may take his whole life. But Tony is seeing the brighter side - That he will be home for Christmas.