Man Has His Hand Sewn Inside His Stomach In A Groundbreaking Surgery

A man whose hand was saved after it was sewed inside his abdomen is now set to have pioneering surgery, the first of its kind in the world, to restore full use of his fingers.

Former machine operator Carlos Mariotti, 43, from São Ludgero in southern Brazil, lost all the skin from his hand and fingers in a horrific workplace accident in March 2016.

However, quick-thinking surgeons decided that rather than amputate, they could salvage the totally mutilated hand by surgically tucking it into a soft-tissue pouch in his belly, where it stayed for 42 days.

The doctor had never done that type of surgery and he had never seen it performed before.

Carlos had two more surgeries in May 2016, which left his hand looking like a boxing glove, and despite of its gruesome appearance, he is lucky to have a hand at all.

He had to remember every day that he cannot take his hand out of his body, which is a really strange sensation.

Now, he is set to have two more procedures to radically improve the range of movement in his hand, by separating his fingers and repairing his nerves.

He has not been able to work since the injury, but he started to pick up things and exercise, making small improvements, and now faces a financial battle to raise money for the surgery.

Videographer / director: Janet Tappin Coelho
Producer: Tom Midlane, Ruby Coote
Editor: Joshua Douglas