Puzzle: Man has calf implanted in arm during amputation

Did you find the title of this article a bit confusing, with calf strapped to the arm during leg amputation surgery? For this strange procedure saved a man's life in the UK, and was probably the first of its kind to be successfully performed there.

According to the BBC, the patient - named Ian McGregor - suffered from an aggressive tumor that had spread from the pelvis to the thigh, and doctors had been trying to treat the cancer for ten years. The last alternative available to save McGregor's life was amputation of the affected leg. However, considering the large area that would have to be removed, surgeons feared that the "hole" left would be too large to close.

The medical team decided that the best way out would be to take advantage of the calf skin and muscles that would be lost to cover the cut left by the amputation. Thus, after removing the patient's entire leg to hip height, as surgeons needed to ensure that the tissues remained alive during the procedure, they then implanted the calf in McGregor's arm to maintain blood flow.

The surgery was performed in August last year and lasted 18 hours and, as you can see in the image above - apart from the fact that McGregor has now gained a little piece of skin on his torso that requires waxing - the procedure was a success.