'Miracle' Swansea surgeon praised for reattaching man's severed thumb in six-hour operation

A man has given a big "thumbs up" to a local surgeon after accidentally cutting it off at work.

Arwel Davies, a joiner from Llansadwrn in Carmarthenshire, 42, was injured with a saw during an accident in Llandeilo.

He then spent ten minutes looking for the severed thumb, which it turned out was jammed in the safety mechanism of the circular saw.

Unable to detach the thumb from the saw, he took himself and the machinery to Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen, before being transferred to Morriston Hospital in Swansea for more specialist care.

Mr Davies said he got "some funny looks" when he arrived in the hospital's reception.

He continued: "They probably thought I was going to kick off [carrying the saw] but as soon as I told the receptionist my thumb was inside, it was fine.

“They took the thumb out, put it in a bag and sent me for surgery.”

Arriving at Morriston Hospital, he was operated on by plastic surgeon Thomas Bragg.

However, even after a six hour-long operation it was feared the thumb wouldn't take because of the state it was in after being cut off. Thankfully that was not the case.

They had to get some extra help from a leech though to drain blood from his thumb as there was too much blood flowing through it.

Mr Davies said: “The next morning, after I woke up, they started putting leeches on mythumb to make it bleed.

“They are very clever. They said the artery was pumping in too much blood for the veins to handle so they put a leech on to help bleed it.”

The accident happened whilst chopping wood clamped to a bench outside a customer's house.

“I was using the saw to cut some wood clamped to a bench, something I’ve done countless times before, when it came off the clamps. I went to grab the wood with my right hand, while the left kept the saw going without really thinking. In less than a second my thumb was off", Mr Davies said, describing the incident.

He added: “It happened on 1st September at 2pm. That’s when my thumb came off. I will never forget that date".

Luckily he is now making a good recovery. Mr Davies said: "I [am] starting to get feeling back and it’s actually looking like a thumb again now."

But he has not yet been able to return to work following the accident in September.

“They said it would take six to 12 months before it fully heals but I’m self-employed and do need to go back to work", the joiner said, adding: “In the meantime I’m left twiddling my thumbs – something I can do again now!”

And he could not praise the surgeons who saved his thumb enough, saying: “Mr Bragg and his team are absolute stars.

“I can’t thank them enough. They were so very professional.

“I was expecting to wake up without a thumb to be honest with you. Butthey worked a miracle."