Zhang Chuanqiu, a 27-year-old Chinese man, is hoping to save his hands after he was shackled so tightly in an illegal prison in Hunan that his flesh grew over the chains.
Chuanqiu was imprisoned after a falling out over a loan he was using to build his house. He was chained in a cowshed in 2005.
He needs a surgery that will cost about $1,600 to remove the chains and to avoid further infection.