Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Quote
22 July 2016
The UK's first double hand transplant operation has taken place at Leeds General Infirmary and the patient says his new hands look "tremendous".
Chris King, from Doncaster, lost both his hands, apart from the thumbs, in an accident involving a metal pressing machine at work three years ago.
He received two new hands from a donor and says he already has some movement in them.
Prof Simon Kay led the operation at the UK's centre for hand transplants.
Mr King, who is 57, is the second person to have a hand transplant at Leeds, and the first to have both hands replaced.
He said: "I couldn't wish for anything better. It's better than a lottery win because you feel whole again."
Mr King said the operation, which took place in the past few days, appeared to have been a complete success.
Sgt. John Peck, who was injured in 2010, had the operation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Peck lost both legs and his left arm as a result of the explosion. His right arm had to be amputated after it became infected. He was in a coma for three months. The 14-hour surgery was performed over the summer when the arms of a brain dead young man became available. It took at team of 60 surgeons, nurses and other technicians, according to CBS News.
Former Marine Sgt. John Peck is seen walking on artificial limbs before having a double arm transplant.
It will take some time before Peck will be able to use his new limbs as nerve connections can take a long time to develop. The process can be painful. “As those nerves grow back, sometimes they can give unusual sensations to people, sensations like electric shocks and sensations like burning,” Dr. Simon Talbot, the lead surgeon, told CBS.
Peck confirmed the pain. “There was one night in the ICU, I was crying. I was in a lot of pain, even through all the meds I was on. I contemplated calling the doctor and being like, ‘Look, doctor, I can’t handle this pain right now. You gotta take these arms off me,’” Peck told CBS.
Now, two months into his recovery, Peck’s main concern is that his body might reject the new limbs. “Any day my body can say, nope, not having it. And then go back to Brigham and get my arms re-amputated even higher than I was before,” Peck said. In the meantime, Peck is wearing braces on his new arm to protect them. It could be up to a year before sensation returns to his new fingers. Worldwide, the number of people who have received arm or hand transplants is less than 100, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
US Marine Veteran Receives Double Arm Transplant
