Australian Man’s Severed Thumb Replaced By His Own Big Toe After Bull Attack

#1 Zac Mitchell lost his thumb to a bull but was replaced by surgeons with his own big toe.

Zac Mitchell, 20, was injured in April while working on a remote farm in Western Australia.

#2 "A bull kicked my hand into the fence," Zac said of the incident.

With the full force blown by the bull, the entire tendon of Zac’s thumb was ripped out and even scraped off a large portion of his skin.

#3 His coworkers tried to save his severed thumb by preserving it in a cooler full of ice and cooled beers.

However, the surgeons failed twice in reattaching Zac’s thumb. They then suggested replacing the part with his big toe instead.

#4 Surgeons have surgically attached a man's toe to where his thumb was severed by a bull in an eight-hour long operation.

#5 Mr. Mitchell told Australian broadcaster ABC:

"The surgeon explained that [a prosthetic thumb] was pretty pointless and useless in a way, so he talked me into getting my toe put on as sort of my last option."

#7 Dr. Sean Nicklin, the lead plastic surgeon, told the BBC he was not surprised it took time for Mr. Mitchell to accept the operation.

"It is a bit of a crazy idea - they [patients] 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."

#7 He added:

“We all think the big toe is pretty critical but removing it doesn’t cause a lot of problems… people go back to wearing work boots and playing football.

"Only thing you might struggle with is surfing, one patient won’t have the surgery because he’s a surfer and he won’t be able to wear thongs (flip flops) … and balance.”

#8 An x-ray of Zac's thumb fracture

Zac told everyone that the surgery has not affected his ability to work at all. In fact, despite being advised to take more than 12 months of rehabilitation, he already plans to go back to the farm to work.

“It is good news. I’ll be able to get back to work and riding bulls and rodeoing.”