Kiwi star reveals his shocking injury following horror dune buggy accident

Manu Bennett has revealed how a horror dune buggy accident 'eviscerated the middle' of his hand and left him needing multiple surgeries and stitches months after the crash. 

The 55-year-old actor, who is known for his roles in Spartacus and The Hobbit trilogy, shared an X-ray of his hand to Instagram on Monday.

He said he wasn't able to share photos of his 'crushed' hand to the social media platform because they are too 'graphic'. 

The thrill seeking star was driving a dune buggy in Dubai two months ago when he lost control of the recreational off-road vehicle.

It flipped and Manu was sent soaring through the air, with his hand getting caught beneath the roll bar as the buggy crashed to the ground. 

The Kiwi-born, Aussie-raised star said that the in-built safety feature - intended to protect people in the event of a rollover - effectively became a 'bear trap'.

'Given so many friends have asked, here is an X-ray of the multiple fractures to my hand caused when it was crushed by the roll bar of a dune buggy as it flipped,' he wrote in the caption alongside the X-ray. 

'Pretty much like a bear trap, my hand was eviscerated through the middle.

'Image is too graphic for Insta but [I'm] extremely lucky that my tendons remained intact during the heavy crush.'

Manu is still in Dubai, and on Monday appeared to be relaxing poolside at an upscale day spa. 

In another selfie, Manu appeared refreshed as he enjoyed a dip in a large swimming 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 surgeon, who he credited for quite 'literally' saving the use of his left hand.

'I'm indebted & forever thankful to the staff at Rashid Hospital, Dubai & my surgeon “The Maestro” Dr Nebosjka, who literally saved my hand,' Manu continued in his caption. 

'Most of all, thank you to God for watching over me. It could have been a lot worse & I truly count my blessings.'

Responding to a fan who asked about the state of his mobility after the accident in the comments, Manu added that he's 'working back towards full mobility.' 

Manu frequently shares footage of his adventurous escapes to social media and has globe-trotted from Burning Man in the Nevada desert to Tahiti, Mexico and Egypt. 

The star's globe-trotting saw him climb Quarry Rock in Vancouver, Canada and showing off his physical prowess doing chin-ups from a tree atop Angels Landing in Utah's Zion National Park, only weeks before the accident. 

In another reflective moment, the actor wrote that 'having almost severed' his hand in the buggy accident has made him more grateful for his body. 

'You can see the stitches in my hand from the last surgery,' he said. 

'I've come to truly appreciate the body God granted me & how vulnerable any of us are to losing these gifts & this greatest gift of life.'

Manu was born in Rotorua, New Zealand to a Māori singer father and an Australian bikini model mother, and spent most of his young life between Sydney and Newcastle.

He credits his breakthrough role as Gallic warrior-slave Crixus in the Spartacus TV series to his own professional rock bottom, when he spent eight months 'hauling stone' as a NSW building site labourer. 

'It really did force me out of my comfort zone, and digging out those swimming pools in Sydney mansions gave me that whole upstairs-downstairs feeling, which would prove vital in bringing the character to life,' Manu said in a prior interview. 

In 2014, the actor revealed he had lost out on two major roles to actor Jason Momoa. 

Most recently, he helmed season two of The Summit. 

The series saw 16 quasi-celebrities and regular people thrust into the New Zealand Alps for two weeks, with the collective goal of reaching the mountain's summit with their portion of a million-dollar prize. 

Charlotte Skelton, 35, from NSW took the lion's share of the prize and chose to split it with two runners-up, former NRL player Mat Rogers and 51-year-old Simmone Jade McKinnon. 

They each pocketed $100,000.