Granddad saws off hand while making Wendy House - and survives

Stan Smith, 60, from Willerby, East Yorkshire, got the sleeve of a loose-fitting jumper caught in a chop saw as he worked in his back garden on the gift for the grandchildren aged four and six.

The rotating blade cut his left hand clean off and he could have bled to death if he had fainted.

But he calmly walked into his home, and his wife Gail went out to pick up his hand.

After 12 hours of plastic surgery, the limb was successfully reattached and Mr Smith has regained 70% of its use.

He is back at the DIY and is even building an extension, although he is yet to finish the Wendy house after the accident.

He said: “When I had the accident, I didn’t panic, even though I felt terrible about the fact that I’d lost my hand and I thought that I’d never be able to use it again.

“Seeing the blood gushing out of my wrist, I put pressure on the artery to stop the bleeding as far as I could.

“Strangely enough, I was incredibly calm throughout and managed to walk back to the house to ask my wife to call an ambulance.

“She also had to go back into the garden to look for my hand so that we could give it to the medical team.”

Mr Smith said: “If I’d fainted in the garden after the accident I’d probably be dead now.

“Instead, I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who cared for me at Hull Royal Infirmary.

His plastic surgeon Alastair Platt said: “Mr Smith sustained a devastating injury when he lost his hand.

“Getting him to the point he’s at now was a real team effort from the ambulance crew; A&E staff who allowed us to get to surgery with minimal delay; the operating theatre staff at Hull Royal Infirmary; Mr Roy, the orthopaedic surgeon who fixed both of the cut forearm bones; the dedicated ward nurses who cared for him over the first week when blood supply was critical, and all the rehabilitation therapists who helped him on the long road to recovery.”