3 min readSuratJun 9, 2026 10:07 PM IST
First published on: Jun 9, 2026 at 10:07 PM IST
A man underwent a successful thumb replantation surgery after a horse chewed and severed it while being fed, in rural Surat, his relatives said on Tuesday. While he was still under observation at a private hospital, the 40-year-old was said to have regained some mobility in his injured finger, they added.
Salim Sidat (40), who hails from Nani Naroli in Mangrol taluka of Surat district but lives in London, has been visiting his native village with his family since a week. Around 10 months ago, he bought the horse in question for Rs 11 lakh from a seller in Rajasthan and kept it with three other horses at his stable built on his agricultural land in the village, according to his cousin Zubair Umalla.
On Sunday, Salim was feeding carrots to the horse in the presence of Zubair, who lives in the same village. Engrossed in a conversation with Zubair, Salim failed to pull his thumb out of the horse’s mouth in time. Writhing in pain, he was rushed to a private hospital in the city. What followed was a four-hour-long surgery.
Zubair said, “With new horses brought to a stable, a finger or thumb is inserted in their mouths when they are fed. The finger or thumb must be removed immediately before the horse begins to chew the entire vegetable. Salim and I were engrossed in a conversation when he forgot to remove his right thumb from the horse’s jaw. The horse chewed on his thumb, leaving it severed and his palm injured. As he shouted, I opened the horse’s mouth and took out the thumb portion. I took him to his house, wrapped his hand with a clean cloth, and stored the severed thumb in an ice box. We contacted a local doctor, who advised us to take him to a private hospital in Surat.”
He added, “It took a four-hour surgery to replant the severed thumb portion. Salim’s condition is stable, but he has been kept under observation. He is now able to move his thumb under the supervision of a physiotherapist.”
Zubair said it was his village’s tradition to own horses. “Salim’s father also had two horses. Salim knows horse riding. Whenever he is in India, he rides a horse every day.”
A routine feeding took a tragic turn when a horse accidentally bit off Salim's thumb while he was talking to a fellow villager. 
Share
