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Makarand Tare, consultant, meeting Mr Patel (R) at Broomfield Hospital. A man who had his fingers completely severed off in a freak accident at work has miraculously had his hand saved by world-beating surgeons. See MASONS story MNHAND. But today, less than two years after the life-changing accident, father-of-two Atushkumar Patel can grip, lift objects and even write his own name again. Mr Patel, the sole breadwinner for his family, had been cleaning a packing machine at work in Barking when it started automatically, the blades slicing his four fingers clean off and throwing them 25-feet across the factory floor. Stunned colleagues put them in a carrier bag before Mr Patel was rushed to Chelmsford’s world-renowned St Andrews Centre.