A young man whose forearm was torn off by an agricultural machine near Avignon was successfully operated in Marseille three hours and a half only after the accident.

The hand surgeon André Gay, in the department of Hand and Limbs surgery led by Pr Régis Legré at the Timone University hospital, prevented limb amputation after a six hours long extremely delicate surgery. 

This achievement was made possible thanks to an exemplary cooperation between rescuers, the SAMU for the transfer by helicopter, and the medical staff who performed surgery in record time.

Some figures on the service of Hand surgery - Restorative plastic surgery of the limbs (2016) :

• 14 755 consultations
• 2 059 patients received at hand emergency
• 1 448 hospitalizations
• 1 714 interventions outpatient