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Chris Deadman from Stamford wants to thank the people who helped after his accident with a saw




A man who nearly lost his thumb to a terrible accident wants to thank the strangers who helped him.

One year ago, Chris Deadman was cutting up garden waste at his home in Stamford when the powerful saw he was using suddenly caught his hand.

“I was chopping some wood and I don’t really know what happened,” he said. “It was so quick.

Chris Deadman with Elaine Allwood, one of several people who helped him after he severed his thumb with a saw. Photo: David Babbs
Chris Deadman with Elaine Allwood, one of several people who helped him after he severed his thumb with a saw. Photo: David Babbs

“As I took my hand away it felt like it was on fire. I had work gloves on but when I touched the glove with my other hand, it kind of fell away and I could see the white of the bone.”

Chris, 37, who was on his own at the time of the accident, knew he had to stay calm. However, the shock of the injury was affecting him.

“I thought I went straight inside the house and dialled an ambulance, but evidence I saw later on suggests I’d wandered around the patio first.”

Chris Deadman's thumb after surgery
Chris Deadman's thumb after surgery

Having phoned for help, Chris had the presence of mind to go to the front of his house in Waverley Gardens so that if he fell unconscious he could still be found.

As he waited, a family came along and helped to keep Chris talking while he was increasingly feeling the effects of the pain, shock and blood loss. Soon a nurse, driving home from work, spotted them and pulled over.

“She took control of the situation, gave additional instructions to the ambulance and looked after me, keeping me conscious,” said Chris.

“I have no idea who she was, but I want to thank her, and the First Responder, a man who arrived before the paramedics.”

Chris Deadman after one of three operations
Chris Deadman after one of three operations

Chris has nothing but praise for the NHS medical staff who looked after him too. “I think I was sick on one of the lovely ambulance people,” he said, “So I definitely want to say ‘sorry’ and ‘thank you’ to her.”

Chris’s left thumb was 90 per cent severed from his hand, but still had a blood supply. With careful surgery it could be saved. He underwent an initial 13-hour operation at Addenbrooke’s Hospital near Cambridge to re-attach the thumb, which was held in place by an ‘exterior fixation’ - a sort of splint made from a syringe filled with cement.

A second operation was carried out a few weeks later to put in titanium plates to fix the bone, and a third in December to then remove the metal.

Chris Deadman had to have nine months of hand therapy
Chris Deadman had to have nine months of hand therapy

Chris also recieved physiotherapy with Addenbrooke’s hand therapy team over nine months to rebuild the muscle and movement in his hand and arm. During that time he relied on girlfriend Meg Humphrey, while friend Matt Kefford stepped in frequently to drive him to hospital.

Meanwhile, Elaine Allwood used her sewing skills to alter some of Chris’s clothes to allow him to put them on without having to seek help each time.

“If it weren’t for everyone who helped me, and particularly those people who kept me awake while I was waiting for the ambulance, and then the NHS staff who saved my thumb, things could have ended up quite differently for me,” said Chris, who is director of operations for Alpheus, part of Anglian Water Group, and who is currently studying for an MBA business degree.

Chris Deadman and girlfriend Meg Humphrey
Chris Deadman and girlfriend Meg Humphrey

“Without the use of a thumb, you aren’t able to use that hand to pick things up, which makes simple tasks awkward or impossible. You don’t realise how much you need a thumb until you nearly chop one off.”

  • If you were the nurse who stopped, or the paramedics who attended, contact the Mercury by e-mailing smeditor@stamfordmercury.co.uk or phone 01780 758955.

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