UK’s first double hand transplant patient can’t wait to get mitts on a bottle… after op is a success
Chris King, 57, who lost both his hands in an accident three years ago, is itching to take his bandages off and use new mitts
BRITAIN’S first double hand transplant patient is itching to peel off his bandages so he can take hold of a bottle of beer.
Chris King, 57, lost his mitts three years ago in an accident at work involving a metal pressing machine.
He was resigned to life without them until he met Mark Cahill, 55, who is the only other hand transplant Brit.
Mark, of Greetland, West Yorks, urged him to go ahead and last week consultant plastic surgeon ProfSimon Kay led eight colleagues in a 12-hour operation to attach Chris’ new hands.
They joined the sets of bones with titanium plates and screws and connected tendons and muscles before the blood vessels and the nerves. Chris, of Rossington, South Yorks, already has some movement in them.
He said: “It’s like they were made to measure.
“I can’t wait to get all these bandages off and look at them properly. It’s better than a Lottery win because you feel whole again. There is no greater gift.”
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Chris is already looking forward to putting on a shirt with buttons rather than Velcro.
But he most wants to hold a beer properly.
He said: “A bottle of Timothy Taylor’s, that’s what I can’t wait to get back for.”
Prof Kay, who operated on Chris at Leeds General Infirmary, said: “He’s doing really well. I’d expect that he will regain very good movement and very good feeling.”
The identity of the donor is a secret, but his family said: “He’d have given the shirt off his back to help somebody in need and we’re pleased the double hand transplant operation was able to go ahead.”