So making the decision to have one of his big toes amputated to replace a missing thumb was not an easy one.

He could regain the thumb he so desperately wanted but risked losing a toe as well as a thumb if things didn’t go to plan.

His diabetes posed another risk.

Now recovering at his Milton home from a marathon operation at the Sydney Hospital, Mr McLaren is confident he made the right decision.

He already has movement in his new thumb – or “tumb” as he calls it – and is confident of making a full recovery.

“I can breathe a sigh of relief,” he said.

Mr McLaren, a semi-retired gun salesman and firearms inspector, lost the thumb on his left hand in a workplace accident late last August.

“I didn’t even feel it,” he said last week.

“I didn’t notice it until I looked down.”

Mr McLaren was initially taken to Milton Hospital, where he remained overnight.

He was transported to Sydney Hospital the following day where he was also treated for a piece of wood that had pierced his eye, narrowly missing his eyeball.

Mr McLaren said he originally wanted one of his little fingers amputated to replace his missing thumb but was told by surgeons that a little finger would be too small and too weak and that a big toe would be far more compatible.

Unable to perform even the simplest of tasks without his thumb, the 62-year-old decided to go ahead with the operation and admitted to holding up a “good bluff” until two hours before the operation when he said reality set in.

“I actually felt quite nervous and wondered whether I was doing the right thing,” he said.

Two surgical teams worked on Mr McLaren during the eight-hour operation in the Sydney Hospital’s hand unit.

It was the first operation of its type at the hospital in several years.

Mr McLaren now exercises his new thumb four times a day but has been warned not to overdo it.

He said it would be at least 12 months before he gets feeling in the new thumb, during which time he faces extensive physiotherapy in Sydney and at the Shoalhaven District Memorial Hospital in Nowra.

Mr McLaren is also dealing with a loss of balance following the amputation of his big toe but said it was a small price to pay for the ability to perform simple tasks such as doing up his shoelaces, cleaning his teeth and cutting a piece of steak.

“You don’t realise how important the thumb is,” Mr McLaren said.

“Things in everyday life become really hard.”

Mr McLaren is full of gratitude for the people who worked on him and has hit the publicity trail to raise awareness of the work being undertaken in the hand unit.

“They’re nothing short of brilliant,” he said last week.

“Just look at the end result.”

No thongs, that’s for sure

IT helps to have a good sense of humour when you’re recovering from a major operation – just ask Geoff McLaren.

Mr McLaren – who had a big toe amputated and transplanted onto his hand last month to replace a missing thumb – is happy to laugh about his situation.

The 62-year-old is now lamenting his inability to wear thongs during summer – particularly as he only recently forked out $6 for a new pair.

He said he would now try putting the strap between the second and third toes on his left foot or if that fails wearing one on his right foot and one on his right hand, where his big toe is now attached.

Mr McLaren, who has played the part of Santa Claus locally for the past 30 years, also managed to have a bit of fun at Christmas at the kids’ expense.

He filled the thumb hole in his left hand glove full of cotton wool and then twisted it around and bent it back and forth to prove that Santa Claus really is ‘magic’.

Mr McLaren is also dealing with his newfound fame, with his story having been picked up by media outlets around the world.

But there is one show he refuses to appear on, saying that he “doesn’t like David Letterman”.