His injury occurred on New Year's Day - day one of three weeks of DIY work he had planned.
"I was up a ladder working on doing up the house, and missed the step, stepping into space," Dr Macpherson said from Dunedin Hospital yesterday.
He fractured his left elbow in the fall and was waiting for an operation on his arm yesterday.
"The disappointing thing was it was the first day of three weeks work I'd planned to tackle lots of stuff around the house, but never mind.
"I was sitting feeling a bit sorry for myself afterwards and then I read the story in the paper on [Roxburgh Community Board member and Roxburgh resident] John Kerr, whose house was burned down and realised how lucky I was after all, compared to the Kerrs."