Man whose hand was severed has it attached to his ANKLE for a month to keep it alive before being reattached



Doctors have successfully reattached a man's severed hand after it was attached to his ankle for a month.

On November 10, Xiao Wei's right hand was severed due to an accident at work.

He said: 'I was just shocked and frozen at the spot, until co-workers unplugged the machine and retrieved my hand and took me to the hospital.'

A Chinese man who had his right hand severed in a work accident had it attached to his ankle for a month to keep it alive

Commenting on the case, Mr Wei's doctor said: 'His injury was severe. Besides ripping injuries, his arm was also flattened. We had to clear and treat his injuries before taking on the hand reattachment surgery'

At his local hospital in Changde, in China's Hunan province, doctors said they were unable to save his hand.

But they suggested that doctors at the larger regional hospital may be able to help.

Mr Wei said: 'I am still young, and I couldn't imagine life without a right hand.'

Seven hours after the incident, he arrived at the other hospital in Changsha.

Doctors here were hopeful they could re-attach the hand, but not right away. So, in order to stop the severed hand from dying, they attached it to his ankle.



Mr Wei said: 'I am still young, and I couldn't imagine life without a right hand'

While he will need to undergo several other operations, doctors are confident Mr Wei will regain full use of his reattached hand

One of them explained: 'His injury was severe. Besides ripping injuries, his arm was also flattened.

'We had to clear and treat his injuries before taking on the hand reattachment surgery.'

N early a month after his hand was severed, Xiao had recovered enough to undergo re-attachment surgery.