my big toe is my thumb now.

kaorukamiya · Post time 15-9-2011 10:58 AM

A BRITISH paver has had his THUMB replaced by his BIG TOE after he accidentally cut it off with a saw.
Surgeons couldn't save James Byrne's severed thumb when he was rushed to hospital last December. So surgeon Umraz Khan had the idea to remove his big toe from his left foot and attach it to his severed thumb. James, 29, from Bristol said: "Mr Khan re-attached my thumb but it had been badly damaged and although we tried everything, including leeches, to get the blood flowing again it didn't take.

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"Mr Khan said to me, 'You will have a thumb even if I have to take your toe.' I thought he was joking, but he was serious and nine months later here it is. The aesthetics of it don't bother me. I am just happy that it works. My work as a paver would have been destroyed without the use of my hand because I couldn't pick up a brick without a thumb but now I hope I can be back at work in a few months. I never thought it would work but the surgical teams and the nurses have done such a fantastic job and the care has been amazing." The incredible surgery was done at Bristol's Frenchay hospital, which has a global reputation when it comes to complex surgery.

A team of surgeons worked on his toe and his hand at the same time. Surgeon Umraz said: "It is quite a rare thing to do and is a very complex micro-surgical procedure which involves re-attaching the bone, nerves, arteries, tendons, ligaments and skin of the toe to the hand." "James will have to learn to rebalance, without his left great toe, on to the ball of the foot but he will be able to walk and jog normally." James will now undergo physiotherapy to ensure the thumb can function properly.

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