Radio host Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli was taken to the hospital Tuesday after severing a tendon in his thumb during a do-it-yourself project. The Nova FM broadcaster, 46, injured himself while assisting co-host Kate Ritchie with a costume for her daughter's Book Week event.
Wipfli explained that the accident occurred when he was attempting to cut a piece of dowel to fashion a spear for the costume. He sustained the injury when he sliced through the skin and tendon of his thumb. "That's where I chopped through the skin and through the tendon on my thumb," Wipfli told listeners.
He was promptly taken to the hospital for emergency surgery. Colleagues facilitated his transport to the hospital, where the ends of the broken tendon were trimmed and reattached. "So now I've got three months of hand rehab and thumb rehab starts tomorrow," Wipfli stated, adding that he must be gentle with the hand for the initial three months. He initially joked that he was telling people he was attacked by a shark.
Wipfli returned to the airwaves on Thursday afternoon for the drive shift. He commented on the pressures of Book Week costumes, describing it as "just the worst" and noting how competitive it has become. "It's become competitive. That's where I got carried away," he said.
He later shared images from the hospital, including his bandaged hand and a video of his medical attire. Wipfli and his wife, Lisa Wipfli, have three children: Theodore, nine, Jack, eight, and Francesca, four.