Tradie has toe-finger transplant

It's a transplant we rarely hear of but it's changing the life of a tradie who thought he would never work again.

Frank Barreda lost four fingers and a thumb but with radical and complex surgery he has now found a way to rebuild his hand.

It is a procedure Mr Barreda never imagined possible. Surgeons took his big toe from his foot and reattached it to his hand.

Mr Barreda told Seven News:"It was, how do I put it... confronting to say we're going to take your toe and put it for a thumb."

But after his right hand was crushed in a workplace accident, the 47 year-old was determined to rebuild it. But it turned out, attaching the toe was not the hard part.

Hand Surgeon Dr Sean Nicklin said: "Because of his injury, it actually took a lot of surgery to get his hand prepared."

That took two weeks in Sydney Hospital to recover from. Then he underwent a seven-hour operation to delicately transfer all the small bones, nerves and blood vessels, to make a thumb.

Dr Nicklin said the procedure is not as uncommon as one would think and it was performed about once a year at Sydney Hospital alone.

Mr Barreda will be under the knife again next month.

"His thumb is working well but it's got nothing to pinch against, so we want to create some fingers" Dr Nicklin explained.

This procedure will use toes from his other foot.

"I wouldn't say I recommend it, but if you need it done, I would," Mr Barreda said the results.