A central Chinese hospital saved a man's severed hand by grafting it onto his ankle, the man and the hospital said on Tuesday (December 17).<br/> <br />Twenty-five-year-old Xie Wei from Hunan province lost his right hand in a heavy machinery accident in the factory where he works in early November.<br/> <br />He came to the Xiangya Hospital in the provincial capital, Changsha, seven hours later.<br/> <br />According to a statement by the hospital, at room temperature, the tissue of the hand would have died within around ten hours.<br/> <br />Transplanting it onto blood vessels on Xie's own body was the best way to save it, and also prevented further blood loss from the injured arm, the statement said.<br/> <br />Thirty-five days later, on December 4, the hand was transplanted back form the ankle to Xie's arm, photographs provided by the hospital show.<br/> <br />In a brief telephone interview from the hospital on Tuesday, Xie told Reuters he would never have believed the hand could have been saved.<br/> <br />Xie said i
