Neighbours save man's hand after he cut it off with a power saw in home DIY accident

A DIY enthusiast sliced off his entire hand in an accident with a power saw, but quick-thinking neighbours managed to save the limb with a bowl of ice.

Retired headteacher Edryd Jones was cutting wood for his bedroom ceiling at his house in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales, when his power saw slipped.

The 69-year-old didn't even realise the extent of his accident until he noticed his hand lying on the floor.

"I didn't realise my hand had gone until I went to pick up a piece of wood and it wasn't there. It was on the floor. I thought I was going to bleed to death," he said.

He was home alone but managed to walk to a neighbour's house to raise the alarm.

"I knocked on his door and he was absolutely shocked when I said, 'I've cut my hand off'."

Neighbours called an ambulance and set about saving Mr Jones' hand.

"Someone said, 'Where's his hand?' It was still upstairs in the bedroom," he explained. "A neighbour had to go up and get it.

"My watch was still on the wrist so he took it off and brought the hand down and put it into the bowl of ice."

After a nine-hour operation to reattach it, Mr Jones can now move his hand and drive again - and has even resumed his DIY.

He later donated £1,000 to the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery at Morriston Hospital, Swansea, where he was treated.

Surgeon Andrew Bebbington fixed Mr Jones' bones together, while his colleague Dean Boyce repaired his nerves, blood vessels and skin.

Mr Boyce said: "Edryd is doing really well, all things considered. He is already developing sensation and has good movement in his fingers. I'm very pleased with his progress."