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.

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."