SAN DIEGO -- The life of a Vista man changed after his hand was cut off in a freak accident, 10News reported.

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Man Shares Story Of Recovery

Matt McClure, (pictured, left), never stops counting his blessings. Every time he wrestles with his two young daughters, it is a reminder of how far he has come.

"I play with them. I wrestle with them. I pretty much do what I want to do," said McClure.

While McClure was working for a North County tree farm, his right hand was severed from his body.

"For some reason I just stuck my right hand there and hit the button with my left hand. The blade went right in the middle of the pinky (and) straight across," McClure said. "One guy picked up my hand -- it was still inside the glove -- and put it inside a little Igloo cooler with ice."

Time was of the essence, according to 10News.

McClure and his amputated hand were flown to the University of California, San Diego Medical Center where microsurgeon Rick Bodor prepared for the worst.

"The fact that it was the hand cut off in a bucket, being delivered to you separate from the patient, is not the kind of injury we see all the time," Bodor said.

Bodor and his team of surgeons spent the next 14 hours reattaching McClure's hand, vein by vein.

"Being that these don't come by except every few years, you really don't train specifically for the hand replantation. You just have to know these principals," Bodor said.

After many tedious hours, Bodor and his team reached an important milestone.

"When the blood filling in the hand, it warms up and (then) picks up. You feel the very same rush in your own body," Bodor said.

After McClure's hand was attached, he was determined to hold his baby daughter, Alexis, again. After months of rehabilitation, it finally happened.

"He was trying to lift the child up. His goal was doing whatever it takes to be a normal father," Bodor explained.

"I picked her up and held her. And then everything was fine. It was a relief," McClure said.

McClure said the accident changed his life in many ways. He is going to school to learn to be a 3-D animator -- a dream he never thought he would realize.

"To me its kind of a blessing in disguise because what I am doing know, I have wanted to do for a long time and now I finally have the chance to do it," McClure.

McClure spent nearly a year in rehabilitation. Doctors said he made miraculous progress during the first few months -- he was able to tie his shoelaces three months after his hand was re-attached.