How a toe-to-thumb transplant changed a man's life
A horrific accident sliced off a large part of a Cape Town man’s right hand, leaving him with only one finger. He was filled with despair, until a remarkable surgeon gave him new hope. It all happened in a split second. The press should have been turned off but wasn’t – and in that instant Jermayne’s hand was caught and crushed by the powerful machine. His co-worker pressed the emergency stop switch, but it was too late to save Jermayne’s hand.
Jermayne lost all his fingers on his right hand except his index finger. Dr. Nick Kairinos met him at the Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital and thought he would be a good candidate for a toe-to-thumb transplant, a procedure seldom done in South Africa. During the intricate 16 hour operation the surgeon amputated of Jermayne’s toes and then connected it to the site where his thumb used to be. This has provided Jermayne with the much-needed pincer movement – the ability to pinch with his remaining index finger and new thumb.
This complex surgery has given Jermayne new hope for returning to work and being able to do things for his little boy.
Click below to Barbara Friedman unpack the story...
More from Medical Miracles

Mechanical heart device saves a ten-year-old boy
Philasande Dladla, the first child on the continent to undergo a lifesaving operation, receiving a Heartware Valve Assist Device.
Read More
Fibroid embolisation to save lives of millions of South Africa women!
Hear about a truly groundbreaking - and life changing - treatment that kills fibroids, with minimal invasion.
Read More
Mechanical hearts and the heart valve assist device
For decades the world focused on donor heart transplants as the solution for a failing heart. That was until the HVAD came along!
Read More
Affordable IVF fertility treatment and healthy babies for HIV positive couples
How the Gynecology and Obstetrics unit at Tygerberg Hospital is offering affordable IVF to couples.
Read More
Life saving bone marrow transplants
How SA's Bone Marrow Registry's ‘military style’ operation gets bone marrow from donor to patient in the crucial 72 hour window.
Read More
The world's first penile transplant successfully carried out in SA
The partner of a young man who received the first donor penis soon fell pregnant and their got their first child.
Read More
How robotic surgery is being used to cure prostate cancer
Learn about a groundbreaking procedure from the Cape giving prostate cancer sufferers renewed hope.
Read More
How micro premature babies are being given a fighting chance
Premature babies born sub 25 weeks are known as micro prems. Dr. Ricky Dipenaar specialises in the care of these tiny babies.
Read More
The latest tool in the fight against childhood diabetes - an artificial pancreas
The story of a high tech ‘airbag’ that shuts off insulin delivery in diabetic children, thereby preventing hypo-glycemic shock.
Read More
How ultrasound is being used to detect brain swelling in children
Infants with illnesses that may give rise to brain swelling are often not diagnosed in time. Enter Dr llewellyn Padayachy...
Read More