Astonished medics are trying to save the hands of tormented Zhang Chuanqiu who was chained so tightly in an illegal prison that his flesh grew over his shackles.

Zhang, 27, had been chained to a cowshed in Hunan, southern China, in 2005 after falling out with village officials over a loan to build his house.

But his chains had been so agonisingly tight that Zhangs own flesh began to absorb them.

The only person who did not give up on me was my mother who waited for her time and rescued me, he explained.

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