A man has had his severed thumb replaced by his big toe. Yes his toe.
20 year old cattle worker Zac Mitchell had his thumb severed when he had his hand kicked by a bull into a fence in Western Australia. Placing his thumb in a cooler full of ice to preserve it but it surgeons were unable to save it and used his big toe in it’s place.
Apparently according to Dr Sean Nicklin, Mr Mitchell was reluctant at first to have the procedure:
“It is a bit of a crazy idea – they [patients] do not want to be injured in another part of their body……even if you have got four good fingers, if you do not have something to pinch against them, your hand has lost a huge amount of its function….A lot of people think their balance and walking is going to be significantly affected which it generally isn’t.”
The Sydney Eye Hospital who completed the procedure, apparently stated that it’s rare to transplant a whole toe with patients usually resorting to partial toe relocations.
Mitchell now requires more than a year of rehab and he plans to return to work once recovered.
To listen to the guys chatting about this please click here!