A man with cancer made medical history when doctors trying to reach a deep tumour removed his leg and attached it to his ARM.

Ian McGregor, from Sunderland, had to go under the knife in an 18-hour life-saving operation to remove the cancerous cells from a hard-to-reach place in his upper thigh.

But in a medical first, daring doctors at a Newcastle hospital removed his leg muscles and tissue.

They then attached it to his forearm to keep the cells alive with fresh blood flowing through them.

After the operation, the excess skin and flesh was then used to repair the hole where the tumour was.

Thankfully for Ian, although his leg still had to be amputated, the operation was a success.
Ian said: “They told me we’re definitely going to be taking the calf off and implant it into your right arm to keep it alive.

“I thought – it’s just amazing what they can do, it’s like Star Trek!”

He is now cancer free and awaiting a prosthetic leg.

It’s not the first medical miracle to help cure the disease, recently a cancer patient was rid of up to 70 tumours thanks to a new drug.

Ian Brooks became cancer-free thanks to a new treatment which acts “like an armour piercing shell”.

Consultants at the Christie hospital in Manchester were amazed when they looked at his scan after and found the tumours had disappeared.