Man offers to return severed finger

MIAMI, May 12 (UPI) -- A Wilmington, N.C., man who found a fingertip in his frozen chocolate treat has tried to give it back, but doctors said it was too late to reattach.

The finger got in the frozen custard when Brandon Fizer, 23, lost it to a custard mixing machine he was using, the Wilmington Star reported Thursday.

His fellow employees looked frantically around to find the finger for possible reattachment but it had already gone out the drive-through window inside the treat.

When Clarence Stowers took the finger out of his mouth May 1, he said his first reaction was to scream.

The manager of Kohl's Frozen Custard said Stowers threatened to sue and had kept the finger in a freezer. Finally Wednesday night, Stowers offered to return it.

But medical experts have said an attempt to reattach a severed finger usually has to be made within six hours. Also, once the finger is frozen, it's not possible to reattach.

In March, a woman in San Jose, Calif., said she found a finger in a carton of chili she bought at a fast-food restaurant, but investigators said she had planted it there herself.