Doctors Sew Baby’s Fingers Back On Hand After Accident

Bill and Jacquie Leep didn’t see the hatchet by the woodstove until it was too late.

It was Feb. 5, and the Leeps and their two children, Austin, 2, and Harrison, 1, were visiting friends in Eagle Point.

No one saw it happen, but Bill Leep figures Austin picked up the hatchet and accidentally brought it down on his baby brother’s left hand, severing all four fingers.

“It’s every parent’s nightmare,” Jacquie Leep said. “It was horrific.”

They wrapped Harrison’s tiny hand in a towel, gathered up the severed fingers, and rushed to Rogue Valley Medical Center in Medford. A call to the emergency room made sure the staff was ready for them.

From there, an air ambulance flew them to Portland, where Oregon Health Sciences University plastic surgeons waited at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.

The surgery was done by Dr. Toby Meltzer, assistant professor of plastic surgery at OHSU, and Dr. David Pratt, chief resident in plastic surgery.

Using microsurgery to reattach fingers has become fairly common for teenagers and adults, but it is still rare for very young children, said Meltzer. Harrison is the youngest he has ever worked on.

“At that age, I didn’t think the odds were very good,” Meltzer said. “I figured the odds were less because of the size of the hand.”

Working under a microscope, the surgeons saw the blood begin to flow as soon as each blood vessel was stitched back together - a good sign. xxxx