Builder Saws Off Thumb, Surgeons Reattach Big Toe In Its Place [VIDEO]

What would you do if surgeons couldn't reattach a dismembered finger? Carry on with a greater appreciation for the remaining nine? Watch with empathetic bemusement that episode of 'Arrested Development' where Gob Bluth loses multiple digits during a katana-wielding trick illusion gone wrong?

After accidentally lopping off his own thumb, Bristol, UK resident James Byrne chose an alternative solution. Byrne, a 30-year-old builder, sawed off his left thumb during a carpentry accident last December. Months after surgeons failed to re-connect the severed digit, he was presented with a novel idea by Dr. Umraz Kahn of Bristol's Frenchay Hospital-- they used his big toe instead.

Speaking to The Daily Mail, Byrne claimed some folks don't even realize his thumb is actually a toe, instead mistaking it for a normal, albeit swollen finger. Of course, he'll still need to adapt to the loss of his big toe, explained Dr. Kahn. Using the new thumb is also a struggle, said Byrne, admitting he can't quite bend it though has no problem wiggling and rotating it.

Here is video of Byrne showing off his new digit. Heck of a job by the doc. Thumbs up.

[Daily Mail via Gizmodo]