Luke Evans praises NHS and ‘superhero’ hospital staff for saving father’s hand after freak accident

'We are a very lucky nation,' says actor

Luke Evans has paid an emotional tribute to the NHS and its “superhero” staff.

On Monday, the Beauty and the Beast actor posted a series of videos to his Instagram Story in which he revealed that his father almost lost his fingers in a “terrible accident” chopping wood with a circular saw in his garden last week.

Evans explained that he took his father to the Morriston Hospital in Swansea where an “incredible” surgeon stayed late to perform five hours of micro-surgery to save his father’s fingers.

“What he did to my dad's hand is extraordinary,” Evans said.

“From the second we got there we were looked after by very kind people. Nurses, carers, porters, surgeons, anaesthetists. All of which had already worked a very, very long day when we arrived.

“He finished at 12.30 at night, and he came out with a smile on his face and time to explain what had happened to my dad.

"[He had] to have a vein taken out of his wrist and put into his finger. Detailed, precision work which makes my mind spin as to how they even do these things.”

The Fast & Furious star went on to pay tribute to the NHS and while he acknowledged it was not a perfect system, he hailed staff members for their “brilliant” work and the sacrifices they make to save people’s lives.

(Instagram: @thereallukeevans)

“I just wanted to say how lucky I feel and how grateful I am to have a health service that allows my dad to be treated for all these things and it hasn’t needed insurance, a health insurance, or anything. It’s just there for us, we are a very lucky nation,” Evans said.

“Yes, it's massively in debt. Yes, it doesn't function as well as it should. Yes, there are many problems. But the people who keep the NHS going, I met many of them over the last four days in this hospital and they are all superheroes.

"They have brought people through the worst moments of their lives and they don't get thanked enough, and they work hours. We can't even imagine how many hours these people work."

The actor concluded his post by thanking staff at the Morriston Hospital for taking such good care of his father.

“Thank you because you've not only saved my dad's hand, you have saved these incredible fingers which have built houses, they’ve built fences, walls, fireplaces," he said.

“My dad wouldn't have survived well without his hands, and you saved them. You keep on saving people.

“I'm very proud to have experienced that first hand and see how brilliant you all are.”