BBC The Repair Shop's Dominic Chinea details 'painful' injury which left star 'completely immobile': 'Nightmare'

Lauren Williams
Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:52:14 +0000

The Repair Shop favourite Dominic Chinea has disclosed that a workshop accident has left him struggling with a painful hand injury. The BBC metalworker and craftsman caught his hand in a drill whilst constructing a wheeling machine for content on his YouTube channel.

Speaking to The Telegraph's Helen Brown, Dom revealed: "Bang, I hurt my hand. It got pulled into a drill when I was making a wheeling machine for my YouTube channel."

Although the wound appears to be recovering, the expert restorer explained that surface cuts were not his primary concern.

The real difficulty stems from severe internal bruising, which has resulted in what he described as "sausage fingers" and rendered two of his digits completely immobile.

The injury came after a torrid period for the craftsman, whose Cornwall workshop bore the brunt of storms Goretti and Chandra.

The severe weather tore away sections of the roof, leaving his workspace exposed to the elements.

Dom described the storms as "scary, nightmare" conditions that wreaked havoc on his property. Among the casualties were vehicles he had been painstakingly restoring, including a VW Caddy and a Porsche 356.

His treasured collection of tools and machinery suffered significant damage as rust set in while they sat unprotected outdoors.

"My life's collection: all my precious tools and machinery were out in the elements going rusty," Dom told The Telegraph. "They're my babies almost, you know? And they were just getting ruined."

The metalworker endured twelve gruelling months battling to make his new farmhouse property habitable.

Dom and his wife Maria relocated from Kent to rural Cornwall, but their new home still required extensive renovation work.

During this period, the craftsman found himself "desperately, desperately trying to get some walls built, the floor poured and the roof repaired" so he could shelter his equipment indoors.

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Dom explained to The Telegraph: "After a year of digging and moving concrete blocks and repairing the roof, I'd just about got things watertight and was starting to unpack stuff to get the workshop running."

It was at this point, just as progress seemed within reach, that the drill accident occurred, adding yet another setback to his already challenging circumstances.

Despite the setbacks, Dom's workspace has finally begun taking shape. A new two-post vehicle lift was installed last month, marking a significant milestone in getting the garage operational.

"Life is going to be a lot easier," Dom said. "All the windows are in, the roller shutters are in, the roof is bolted down, not leaking as badly, and I've got my nice flat concrete floor, and now a beautiful new two-post lift."

The craftsman expressed eagerness to begin tackling projects in his improved surroundings, though filming commitments for The Repair Shop in Chichester meant the new equipment would have to wait.