A father-of-three whose fingers were replaced with his toes after a horrific accident has learnt how to use his new digits to hold a pen – and even peel vegetables.
Jeremy Payton, 55, feared he would be disabled for life after severing all the fingers on his right hand in an industrial power blending machine.
But surgeons were able to remove three of the keen golfer’s toes and attach them to his hand in a pioneering operation to give him basic dexterity.
He has slowly learnt to live with his new hand and taught himself to carry out most daily tasks, including tying shoelaces and cooking.
Jeremy Payton, 55, feared he would be disabled for life after severing all the fingers on his right hand in an industrial power blending machine. But after undergoing a pioneering operation to replace his mangled fingers with his toes, he has learnt to use them – and can even play golf
Surgeons were able to remove three of the keen golfer’s toes and attach them to his hand to give him basic dexterity
Recalling the incident for the first time, Mr Payton, from Dartford, Kent, said: ‘When the accident happened I didn’t realise how serious it was.
‘I went to find a first aider at work and said to him “I think my I’ve taken some skin off my hand”. When I looked down at my hand, I realised my fingers were gone.’
Mr Payton’s life changed forever 17 years ago when the former factory manager put his hand into a power blending machine which had been left unguarded.
The rotating blades, which were as powerful as a lawn mower, pulled his fingers away from his hand – and when he looked down, there was just a stump left.
A quick-thinking colleague fished the fingers out from between the blades and wrapped them in a tea towel packed with ice.
Paramedics were optimistic they could be sewn back on as Mr Payton was taken away in an ambulance.
He has slowly learned to live with his new hand and taught himself to carry out most daily tasks, including tying shoelaces and cooking
Mr Payton’s life changed forever 17 years ago when the former factory manager put his hand into a power blending machine which had been left unguarded
The damage was so severe that only his middle finger and ring finger had a hope of being salvaged, and medics worked to ‘replant’ them by sewing them back.
But less than a fortnight later the fingertips turned black as necrosis set in, and he was wheeled back into the operating theatre to have them removed.
Years later he was told of a radical operation which could help him regain the use of his hand by surgeons at East Grinstead Hospital, West Sussex.
He said: ‘It sounded really weird when they explained it – I couldn’t get my head around it until I spoke to a young lad who’d lost his thumb in a forestry accident.
‘He showed me what was on his hand – they’d taken off a toe and sewn it on. You need your thumbs – otherwise no matter how many fingers you have, you can’t pick anything up.’
Recalling the incident for the first time, Mr Payton, from Dartford, Kent, said: ‘When the accident happened I didn’t realise how serious it was.’ The damage was so severe that only his middle finger and ring finger had a hope of being salvaged
The second and third toes from his right foot were removed and transplanted and the big toe from his left foot was used to replace his thumb
In a series of operations over the course of a year, the mangled stump of his right hand was transformed into a patchwork of new digits.
The second and third toes from his right foot were removed and transplanted and the big toe from his left foot was used to replace his thumb.
Just five weeks before the accident he had been in hospital as his wife Sue, now 46, had given birth to twins Max and Charlotte.
For a month after the accident, she had to manage the tiny babies as well as their eldest child, Oliver, who was aged 18 months, alone.
Mr Payton said: ‘Although I wasn’t able to do much for the babies, I could still spend time with them.
‘And I could take Oliver to the shops on his trike, using one hand. It allowed me to spend more time with my kids than most dads do.
‘But if you were to ask my wife, she’d probably say it was like having four children.’
He has carried on the hobbies he enjoyed before the accident, including gardening, DIY and golf, although his handicap has dropped from 24 to 16.
He drives a manual car and finds ways to adapt tools to help him, in addition to using his three toes.
Mr Payton added: ‘The garden is my domain, and we are always decorating the house. Without the operation, I’d be struggling physically and mentally.’
In a series of operations over the course of a year, the mangled stump of his right hand was transformed into a patchwork of new digits
He has carried on the hobbies he enjoyed before the accident, including gardening, DIY and golf, although his handicap has dropped from 24 to 16
Mr Payton drives a manual car and finds ways to adapt tools to help him, in addition to using his three toes, he told reporters