Halpern told the doc his finger was bitten off by a hungry horse who confused the digit for a cookie. Well, that's the horses story anyway.
“One of the guys...reached his hand in the horse’s mouth, took the fingertip out.' On the way to the hospital, Paul put his fingertip on a Popsicle, but the bitten piece was doomed.
Dr Rodriquez said he could make the finger grow back but the insurance company would only pay for an amputation of the rest of the finger. So Paul took a chance.
Using the bladder tissue of a pig, Dr. Rodriguez made a template of Halpern’s finger and attached it to what was left. It worked!
The finger’s cells, bone, soft tissue, even nail grew into the mold. “It’s very interesting to see a patient heal. That’s my passion, wound healing...,” said Dr. Rodriguez.
Gotta feeling Dr Rodriguez is gonna get a call from the VA soon - betcha there's lotsa guys willing to strap on some pig bladder tissue if it means getting back fingers or even more.
