Cobbler who accidentally cut off thumb gets it replaced with his big toe

By Adam Dutton

A cobbler who accidentally cut off his thumb while repairing a shoe had it replaced with his big toe - and now he needs larger gloves.

David Lee, 46, was trimming the heel of a shoe in January 2019 when his hand got snagged in the machine and his right thumb was cut off.

The cobbler, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, incredibly managed to dial 999 (911- US) and even carried his thumb to hospital.

Despite their best efforts, doctors were unable to reattach the thumb so used the next best thing - the big toe from his right foot.

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Now, seven years on David says he needs to regularly size up in gloves and has swapped to his left hand for texting.

But amazingly, the toe-turned-thumb is fully functional after years of physiotherapy.

David, DL Shoe Art The Cobbler, said: "I was trimming the heel on a shoe and then the bottom run of the machine grabbed my jumper and pulled me in.

“I pushed the emergency stop button immediately, luckily I refitted a week before, so the timing was perfect. Without that I could have been in trouble, I hit it with my foot.

“I unraveled my jumper, and as I did my thumb dropped onto the floor. There was strangely not a lot of blood. The machine twisted in such a way it could have cut off circulation.

“I pulled the jumper off my head and grabbed it around my hand and applied pressure. I’m going around turning everything off. I shouted for someone to call an ambulance and she thought I was joking as I'm a joker. I was putting stuff in my bag and switching everything off, while I’m waiting for the ambulance."