Manu Bennett has revealed how a horror buggy accident ‘gutted half’ his hand and left him needing multiple surgeries and stitches, months after the accident.
The 55-year-old actor, known for his roles in the Spartacus trilogy and The Hobbit, shared an x-ray of his hand on Instagram on Monday.
He said he was unable to share photos of his “crushed” hand on the social media platform because they are too “graphic.”
The thrill-seeking star was driving a buggy in Dubai two months ago when he lost control of the recreational off-road vehicle.
He flipped over and Manu went flying through the air, his hand trapped under the roll bar as the buggy crashed to the ground.
The Kiwi-born, Australian-raised star said the built-in safety feature, intended to protect people in the event of a rollover, effectively became a “bear trap”.
Manu Bennett has revealed how a horror buggy accident ‘eviscerated’ his hand and left him needing multiple surgeries and stitches, months after the accident.
The 55-year-old actor, known for his roles in the Spartacus trilogy and The Hobbit, shared an x-ray of his hand after the ‘nasty’ accident.
“Since so many friends have asked, here’s an x-ray of the multiple fractures to my hand caused when it was crushed by a buggy’s roll bar while flipping,” she wrote in the caption alongside the x-ray.
‘More or less like a bear trap, my hand was gutted in half.
“The image is too graphic for Insta, but (I’m) very lucky that my tendons remained intact during the severe crush.”
Manu is still in Dubai and on Monday appeared to be relaxing poolside at an exclusive day spa.
In another selfie, Manu looked refreshed as he enjoyed a dip in a large pool. For the photo, he rested his injured hand in the water and his fingers still appeared to be quite swollen.
The summit host also took the time to thank his doctors and surgeons, whom he credited with “literally” saving him the use of his left hand.
“I am indebted and eternally grateful to the staff at Rashid Hospital in Dubai and to my surgeon “The Master”, Dr. Nebosjka, who literally saved my hand,” Manu continued in his caption.
‘Above all, thank God for taking care of me. “It could have been a lot worse and I’m really counting my blessings.”
Responding to a fan who asked him in the comments about the state of his mobility after the accident, Manu added that he is “working to regain full mobility.”
Manu Bennett, 55, directed Channel Nine’s adventure reality series The Summit.
Manu frequently shares images of his adventurous getaways on social media and has traveled the world from Burning Man in the Neva Desert to Tahiti, Mexico and Egypt.
The globe-trotting star watched him climb Quarry Rock in Vancouver, Canada and show off his physical prowess by doing pull-ups from a tree atop Angels Landing in Utah’s Zion National Park, just weeks before the accident.
In another moment of reflection, the actor wrote that ‘coming close to cutting off his hand’ in the buggy accident has made him more grateful for his body.
“You can see the stitches on my hand from the last surgery,” he said.
“I have come to truly appreciate the body God granted me and how vulnerable any of us are to losing these gifts and the greatest gift of life.”
Manu was born in Rotorua, New Zealand, to a Maori singer father and Australian bikini model mother, and spent most of her young life between Sydney and Newcastle.
He attributes his breakthrough role as the Gallic warrior slave Crixus in the television series Spartacus to his own professional background, when he spent eight months “hauling stone” as a construction site worker in New South Wales.
“It really forced me out of my comfort zone, and digging those pools in Sydney mansions gave me that feeling of being up and down, which would prove vital in bringing the character to life,” Manu said in a previous interview.
In 2014, the actor revealed that he had lost two major roles to actor Jason Momoa.
Most recently, he directed the second season of The Summit.
In the series, 16 near-celebrities and everyday people trekked into the New Zealand Alps for two weeks, with the collective goal of reaching the top of the mountain with their share of a million-dollar prize.
Charlotte Skelton, 35, from New South Wales took the lion’s share of the prize and decided to split it with two finalists, former NRL player Mat Rogers and Simmone Jade McKinnon, 51.
Each pocketed $100,000.