

Queensland surgeons successfully re-attach hand severed in meat slicer

Queensland surgeons have painstakingly re-attached a man's hand after it was severed above the wrist in a workplace accident.
Lawrence 'Lorry' Cooper, 23, was working in the cold room of a Brisbane meat packing factory when his right hand was cut off below the thumb and pinky finger in a meat slicer.
Colleagues scrambled to help as Mr Cooper calmly took himself outside to lie down.
An X-ray of the severed hand. (Mater Hospital)
"It's pretty terrifying when you see your hand missing. Most of it was pretty cold, and I couldn't feel a lot," he said.
Within hours he was on an operating table at Brisbane's Mater Hospital.
His hand was in the next room being assessed and prepared by plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr Andrew Hadj.
The accident had severed a major artery in multiple places, and many tiny blood vessels would have to be reconnected under a microscope, with sutures too small to be seen by the naked eye.


In a seven-and-a-half-hour procedure, Dr Theo Birch and his team then reattached all the bones, ligaments, muscles and veins. Had it taken 30 minutes longer, the hand would have started dying.
The hand was successfully reattached. (Mater Hospital)
"It's like holding your breath for too long, it just needs oxygen, it needs the blood flow into the hand to work," Dr Birch said.
Remarkably, Mr Cooper was wiggling his fingers again just 24 hours after surgery. After eight weeks of painful rehabilitation, sensation is now beginning to return to his hand.
Lorry said he's finding new ways to complete day-to-day tasks but thankfully his mum is happy to help style his mohawk. (9News)
Eight weeks later, the surgeons are happy with his progress and say his prognosis is "extremely good". (9News)
"Full use is always a very hard thing to predict but he's certainly going to have a functional hand," Dr Birch said.
"Lorry's doing all the hard work now.
"I'm very excited to see how he's going in six months."
Mr Cooper has vowed to continue with the rehabilitation to regain as much movement as possible.
"I'm very grateful, I've thanked them many a times," he said.

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