I had 6 toes sewed onto my hands after excruciating accident - I could barely walk, now I love scari
A MAN claims he has always been able to shock trick-or-treaters on Halloween - as he had six of his toes sewn onto his hands after a horror house fire.
Marius Woodward was just 8 years old when he escaped the fire in 2007 that killed both of his parents and left him with no nose or eyelids and needing all his fingers amputated.
The incident left young Woodward in excruciating pain, with 75% of his body burned and having to learn to walk again through "bleeding legs" and needing help eating.
After living without his digits for three years, he was given three options - mechanical hands, a hand transplant, which would require anti-rejection medicine, or a toe-to-hand transplant.
The toe-to-hand transplant was the safest option for him, so at 13 years old, they first took his big toe off his right foot and sewed it onto his right hand, which had been left like a "paddle" since the amputation.
After the operation, he had five more surgeries, each moving an individual toe off his foot and onto his hand, at Shriners Hospital for Children in Los Angeles.
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Now, the 24-year-old has three toes on each hand, walks on just two toes per foot, and can text, write, and feed himself as anyone else could, but admits his handwriting isn't great.
Woodward works as a motivational speaker to inspire others with his story, admitting he is looking forward to Halloween as he loves to shock trick-or-treaters who can't believe his toes for fingers are not a costume.
Marius, from San Diego, said: "I lost my fingers and my nose.
"From 9 until about 12, for three years, I had no fingers. It was like a paddle.
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"It felt like having a glove or mitten on. I felt the nerves but couldn't move any fingers. I've now got three toes on each hand.
"My right big toe goes on my right big hand and my left big toe goes to my left big hand.
"I have the smallest toes left on my feet. So the pinky and the other one."
The fire broke out at Woodward's family home in Romania, and he was found in the garden by a neighbor who called for an ambulance, which took him to Santa Maria Hospital in Iaşi.
After being in a coma for two weeks, Woodward was visited by two American volunteer students from Brigham Young University who heard of his story and were helping out at a nearby orphanage.
Jessica Free and Ashley Ludlow were able to transfer him over to the US nine months later, along with his older brother Ionut, who was not there the night of the fire.
After six months of living in California, Woodward was able to go back to school, and by 2010, Ludlow's parents, Paul and Lynne Woodward, offered to adopt him.
Woodward said: "The pain was excruciating. It was terrible.
"When I woke up [in hospital after the fire], there wasn't anybody there. I was just surrounded by wires.
"I'd been in a coma for two weeks, so was still waking up. It was really scary.
"I had to just focus on surviving, really. Waking up, sleeping, trying to eat food. I started walking. That was really painful.
"I had third- and fourth-degree burns. I hardly had any veins or skin tissue on my legs. Once I started walking, my legs would just bleed.
"My ankles were stuck downwards in ballet position, they froze. I had to do a lot of working out of the muscles and the nerves.
"When they told me I was going to come to America, I felt encouraged to get better. I was excited."
Since the toe-to-hand transplant, Woodward has been able to fully take care of himself and has complete sensation in his hands.
Woodward said: "It makes me feel different [when I look down at my hands]. It makes me miss myself.
"Sometimes, I don't know who myself is. But now, I'm able to take care of myself. I can feed myself, cook for myself, shower.
"At high school, I had terrible handwriting, but I can write. As we're in 2023, I stick mostly with Siri or auto-text, though.
"I have the best outcome by a long run in terms of sensation and zipping up or buttoning things.
"If I hold hands with someone, I can still feel it.
"I'm able to do everything that I used to as a kid, it's just been a harder time."
The ex-salesman doesn't like to think of himself as a burns survivor and believes his life is awesome, even getting excited for Halloween so he can shock people with his hands.
"I don't really look at it as 'I'm a burns survivor,'" Woodward said.
"I feel like I'm just like everybody else. Some days, I have good days, and some days, I have bad days. That helps me make the best out of all of those days.
"I enjoy life. It's fun. I can do whatever I want as long as I'm a good person, it's pretty awesome.
"I'm excited for Halloween. I get: 'Holy s**t, are those your real hands?' and 'How did you do this?'
"Some people are really surprised to see toes on my hands.
"Others want to tell me stories about their experiences or friends' experiences. It's pretty great hearing them. It's awesome to share stories."
The motivational speaker hopes that by sharing his ordeal and current positive perspective on life, he can inspire others to never give up regardless of what life throws their way.
Woodward said: "Nobody is ever going to understand your story all the way.
"At the end of the day, you have to try for yourself and support yourself because people aren't always going to be there for you.
"I never stopped trying to wake up and trying to take that extra bite of food or that extra step. I had a lot of encouragement, but I never stopped that. Don't give up.
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"In the world, everybody is different, and everybody is trying to learn, so try to teach people.
"Just put one step in front of the other and never give up."
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