[@tex] Thanks for bringing this up! :D

Magic isn't available to the villagers -- it's not used, it's barely heard-of, and it's fairly volatile in nature. So, no, I'd have to say it's not possible that magic was used in any way in any sort of surgery.

Having no feeling in his arms and having dense bones due to breaking them are both plausible in real-life, though, without magical involvement. Damage to the nerves/spine would do the trick! Either through injury or chemicals.