Man has turn signal removed from arm after 51 years

Classic car collectors might want to give Arthur Lampitt a call: The 75-year-old from Illinois just had the turn signal lever from a 1963 Thunderbird removed from his arm.

In 1963, Lampitt survived a head-on collision with a semi-truck, which resulted in a broken hip and ribs and several cuts, the Los Angeles Times reports. About 15 years ago, his arm kept setting off a metal detector in a courthouse, and doctors told him he probably had a medical instrument left inside from his treatment in 1963. Lampitt tried to forget about the piece of metal embedded in his arm until a few weeks ago, when it started to protrude from his skin and he sought help.

After a 45-minute surgery, doctors removed the heavily-corroded lever. "I started to wonder just where all that metal went," Lampitt told the Times. He's now pain-free, and will likely give the lever to the surgeon who removed it, who wants the piece for his oddities collection. "I think I'll let him have it," he said. "It's been with me long enough."

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