51 years after wreck, 7-inch car part found in arm

Arthur Lampitt of Granite City shows off the 1963 Thunderbird turn signal that was embedded in his arm for 51 years after having surgery to remove it on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. The 7-inch turn signal was embedded in his arm during a traffic accident that broke Lampitt's hip, drawing attention away from the arm, which healed. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jesse Bogan) EDWARDSVILLE INTELLIGENCER OUT; THE ALTON TELEGRAPH OUT Arthur Lampitt of Granite City shows off the 1963 Thunderbird turn signal that was embedded in his arm for 51 years after having surgery to remove it on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. The 7-inch turn signal was embedded in his arm during a traffic accident that broke Lampitt's hip, drawing attention away from the arm, which healed. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jesse Bogan) EDWARDSVILLE INTELLIGENCER OUT; THE ALTON TELEGRAPH OUT

By Associated Press January 1, 2015 2 min read

CREVE COEUR, Mo. (AP) – Fifty-one years ago, Arthur Lampitt of Granite City, Illinois, smashed his 1963 Thunderbird into a truck. This week during surgery in suburban St. Louis, a 7-inch turn signal lever from that T-Bird was removed from his left arm.

Dr. Timothy Lang removed the lever Wednesday during a 45-minute operation. Lampitt, now 75, is recovering at home.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1EOtGa6 ) reports that the accident broke Lampitt’s hip, drawing attention away from the arm, which healed.

A decade or so ago, his arm set off a metal detector at a courthouse. An X-ray showed a slender object the length of a pencil, but since it caused no pain or hardship, Lampitt was told to let it be.

He was moving concrete blocks a few weeks ago when the arm began to hurt for the first time.