An Australian cattle worker whose thumb was severed by a bull has undergone a successful surgery by replacing it with his toe.
20-year-old Zac Mitchell was attacked back in April while working on a remote farming
property in Western Australia.
Explaining the incident, the young cattle working said “a bull kicked my hand into the fence.’ he told the BBC.
According to him, his fellow workers had attempted to preserve his thumb immediately after the accident before he
was flown to a hospital in the state capital of Perth, but efforts to save his thumb ultimately failed.
“They put it in the esky [cooler] with some ice,” he said
Mitchell underwent two unsuccessful operations to reattach his thumb before
doctors opted to relocate his big toe in the surgery lasting eight hours.
He agreed to the successful transplant operation at the Sydney Eye Hospital two
weeks ago.
The lead plastic surgeon Dr. Sean Nicklin told BBC in a chat that he was not surprised it took time for Mirchell to accept.
“It is a bit of a crazy idea – the [patient] do not want to be injured in another part of
their body,” he said. “[However] even if you have got four good fingers, if you do not have something to pinch against them, your hand has lost a huge amount of its function.”
According to him, he will need more than 12 months of rehabilitation before he returns
to return to farm work.
The Sydney Eye Hospital said it was rare to transplant a complete toe, like in Mr. Mitchell’s case, although partial toe
relocations were more common.
“A lot of people think their balance and walking is going to be significantly affected
which it generally isn’t,” Dr. Nicklin said.
Mr. Mitchell’s mum, Karen, confirmed that his son is making a good recovery. “Two weeks
since the operation his walking is almost back to normal.”
