Xiangya Hospital - Central South University via Reuters Xiao Wei's severed right hand is seen attached to his ankle before the reattachment surgery at Xiangya Hospital in Changsha, Hunan province, on Dec. 4, 2013.

Doctors at a hospital in China saved a man's hand by grafting it to his ankle after it was severed in an industrial accident, according to reports in the Chinese media.

Xiao Wei lost his right hand in an accident in the factory where he worked but it could not be reattached to his arm right away. Doctors kept the hand alive by stitching it to his left ankle and "borrowing" a blood supply from arteries in the leg.

After a month, they were able to reattach the hand to his arm. Xiao Wei said he would be having another operation in six months but might not be able to regain full use of his hand.

Earlier this year another Chinese man had a new nose grown on his forehead after a traffic accident.

-- Reuters, Agence France-Presse

AFP - Getty Images Xiao Wei lying on his hospital bed with his hand grafted to his ankle.