Doctors have discovered breathing in pure oxygen can give people with wounds that won't heal a new lease of life.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy was seen as a last resort for those suffering from injuries that did not respond to treatment, but at a privately run clinic its success has meant it is gaining in popularity.
After part of his leg was amputated four years ago, Malcolm Fleck was in agony and could hardly move. His stump was ulcerated and infected and as a last resort he tried hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
"I had 11 operations in four years and this is getting rid of it where antibiotics and so-called well, modern medicine can't," Mr Fleck says.
The technology has been used by divers suffering from the bends for decades, but now it is becoming an accepted part of mainstream medicine.
Patients sit inside the chamber breathing pure oxygen through helmets under pressure. It is this combination that accelerates healing by up to 80 percent.
With titanium implants inserted into her neck, Paparoa schoolteacher Audrey Campbell was in constant pain. She could not stand, let a long work.
Having tried numerous treatments in the past she was cynical at first, but now she's a convert.
"I wouldn't have believed it, it's a really positive experience," Ms Campbell says.
Both patients are now breathing easy as the pain subsides and their recovery takes off.
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