A MAN is 'lucky to be alive' after he squashed down a bin bag and sliced open a main artery on a hidden broken glass bottle.

Dennis Thompson needed seven hours of surgery on his hand and wrist at Royal Preston Hospital to try to repair the severed vessel and tendons.

The bin at the Pilmuir Road, Blackburn, home of the 57-year-old was full and his father, who lives nearby, offered use of his bin to dispose of a couple of bags.

He went to his father's house, popped the bags in the bin and when he pushed them down to be able to shut the lid, the horrific accident happened.

He is now urging all families to be careful when disposing of rubbish.

He said: "We only have a small rubbish bin and I told my dad and he said to bring a couple of bags and put them in his bin.

"But there must have been a glass bottle in it. I pushed it down and then all I heard was a sudden pop.

"I was in so much pain and had severed my main artery on his left hand and eight tendons had been cut through. I was bleeding everywhere.

"My wife Rachael ripped her top off and tied it around the wound to stem the blood flow and took me to A&E at Blackburn.

"The doctors told me I was lucky to be alive with the damage and I was transferred to Preston to have an operation on my wrist as it was a life-or-death situation.

"The surgeon said it was worse than they thought. If it not been for Rachel doing what she did to stop the blood flow I'm not sure I would still be here."

He now wants to make sure other people don't seriously injure themselves carrying out the everyday task.

He said: "I want to tell people to make sure when they are putting something in the bin to make sure there is no glass in it.

"Everyone pushes the bags down in the bin but I would tell them to do it with a brush in case something sharp is in there. We have all done it. It was just an accident."

Dennis needed more than 100 stitches in his hand after the incident on September 6 and still gets a shooting pain in the hand.

He added: "I have been given exercises and I don't know how bad the damage will be in future with stretching my fingers.

"I think I have just had a lucky escape and I could have collapse with the blood loss but Rachel helped me."

Dennis was forced to celebrate his 57th birthday in hospital due to the incident but he realises it could have been much worse.

His niece Tiana Thompson, from Darwen, collapsed two days after Christmas Day in 2019 and was taken to hospital. Her condition deteriorated and she suffered a blood clot on the brain.

The former St Bede’s High School pupil, aged 20, went to Royal Preston Hospital for an operation but tragically died on January 18. His mum Noreen also died in July last year.

He said: "Someone must have been looking out for me above whether that was my mum Noreen or even my niece Tiana. We have not been having much luck recently."