A man who sliced off his arm in a horrific chainsaw accident is celebrating his incredible recovery.

Just one year after his ordeal, John Stirling has regained full feeling in his lower left arm and able to drive again.

The 60-year-old is now back at work and doing the gardening and says his attitude to life has been changed forever.

Mr Stirling chopped off the lower part of his left arm while working in his garden in Telscombe Cliffs on September 29 last year.

His quick thinking neighbour Steve Francis put the limb in a plastic bag with frozen pastries to preserve it and strapped up his arm with a belt and towels to stem the flow of blood.

The arm was reattached by surgeons at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead in a 13-hour operation.

Just ten weeks later Mr Stirling was back at work as manager of Newhaven Marina and has made remarkable progress ever since.

He said: “Things are going incredibly well at the moment. I can move my fingers, thumbs and wrist and open doors and all the things that people take for granted.

“I am right handed but you don't realise how much you use your other hand until you can't. It makes things really awkward.

“At the moment I can't completely extend my hand and my arm is now two inches shorter than it was but but I am grateful for everything I've got.

“You just have to remember what might have happened.”

Mr Stirling, of Ambleside Avenue, could face more operations in the future that might help improve his hand and arm movement but medics are waiting another four months to give his body more time to repair itself.

One good thing to come out of the accident is that Mr Francis is now a new friend.

He said: “I had never spoken to Steve before it happened but now we are in regular contact. I wouldn't recommend it as a way to get to know someone though.”

Mr Stirling has vivid memories of the day of the accident.

He said: “At one point I thought I wasn't going to make it when I saw all the blood I had lost. It was such a relief when the ambulance arrived.

I didn't expect they were going to be able to put the arm back on because it was not a clean cut but they did an amazing job.”

The 20 days after the operation were crucial as there was a still a chance the surgery would not work He said: “It was a traumatic time. I kept waking up in the morning asking them to check it was all right. It was a horrible feeling to know that I could still lose it “Luckily it all went well.

“Although I have my feeling back and can get hot and cold sensations the arm feels completely different to what it was before. It is very strange.

“Even now I am still noticing improvements. The bones have healed well, my grip is getting stronger all the time.”

Mr Stirling said the whole experience has change his attitude.

He said: “Right from the word go I was determined to succeed and make the most of my life.

“I look at things differently now. Nothing bothers or worries me.

“I know that anything can happen that can change your life at any time so you might as well get on and live life to the full.

“Every time I see images of servicemen injured in Afghanistan my heart goes out to them. It is terible.”

Mr Stirling, who is married to Noreen and has two sons, a daughter and five grandchildren, enjoys his gardening although he is steering well away from the chainsaw.

He said: “ I'm sticking to the spade and fork for now. I'm not going to chance fate twice. I was lucky this time.”