Connor Woodle was born without thumbs. He underwent an operation to turn his index fingers into the missing appendages.

Without thumbs, opening a jar would be nearly impossible, as would picking objects up or holding onto a railing.

Connor Woodle was born without a thumb on either of his hands.

He was inflicted with thumb aplasia, which is a rare genetic disorder that affects an estimated one out of every 100,000 newborns.
As Connor got bigger, he learned to use his index and middle fingers to pick things up.

Connor's parents still worried how he would go through life without thumbs. His father, Jason, said, “My first thoughts were: How is he going to be able to function in the world? Everything from five-fingered gloves to being able to reel in a fishing rod to being able to play a video game.”

They met with Dr. Bobby Chhabra, who is an orthopedic surgeon and co-founder of the University of Virginia Hand Center, to figure out what to do.

In a procedure known as digit pollicization, Dr. Chhabra turned Connor's index fingers into thumbs.

The surgery, which lasted many hours, consisted of shortening and rotating Connor's index fingers, and then relocating them to the side of his hand.

It was also ensured that the new thumbs would grow with Connor.

Connor was only one when he had the surgery, so learning to use his new thumbs will be easier for him than if an adult had the same surgery.

Now at 2 1/2 years of age, Connor is able to grab and hold many objects. And although he's missing a finger on each hand, most people don't even notice.