Gardener slices arm off in chainsaw accident

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John Stirling, 59, was trimming a tree in his garden when his chainsaw slipped, slicing the limb off below the elbow.

He went to the home of his neighbour Steve Francis and said: "Please help, I've just cut my arm off".

Mr Francis, of Telscombe Cliffs, near Brighton, said he called an ambulance and placed the limb in a bag containing frozen pastries to keep it cold. "He [Mr Stirling] was as relaxed as can be," he said. "I didn't realise anything was wrong until I looked down and saw his arm missing."

Mr Francis, 46, tied a belt around the stump and wrapped his neighbour in towels as they waited for paramedics.

"Through it all, he sat there talking away like it was normal," he said. "When the ambulance came I gave them the bag. I couldn't believe he didn't faint."

Mr Stirling was taken to Royal Sussex County Hospital and then transferred to the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, West Sussex, where he underwent 14 hours of surgery last night. A spokesman at the hospital today said: "Early indications are that the procedure went well."