Boy is youngest to get double-hand transplant

Now, surgeons at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have transplanted new hands and forearms onto the boy in the first such operation done on a child.

Zion contracted an infection years ago that led to the amputation of his hands and feet.

His mother, Pattie Ray, who was overcome with emotion recalled the moment she saw her son being wheeled out of the theatre.

The fact that he was already on anti-rejection drugs from the kidney transplant, coupled with an amazingly upbeat attitude, made Zion the flawless candidate for the world’s first pediatric double hand transplant.

For the first time in Zion Harvey’s life, he’ll be able to throw a football with two hands. Once blood flow was established through the reconnected vessels, surgeons sutured together each muscle and tendon, and reattached nerves.

Each year there are only 15 children a year are eligible to donate hands, so to find a match of the right size and color was a miracle in itself. Doctors publicly discussed the 11-hour operation on Tuesday.

Zion already can move and flex his new thumbs and fingers, and is taking part in rehab to regain further dexterity, said Dr. Scott Levin, chair of orthopaedic surgery at Penn Medicine and director of the hospital’s hand transplantation program.

He spent years on dialysis until – at age 4 – he was given a kidney from his mother.

A 40-person medical team used steel plates and screws to attach the old and new bones.

Double-hand transplant recipient eight-year-old Zion Harvey arrives to a news conference with his mother Pattie Ray Tuesday, July 28, 2015, at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in Philadelphia.

Leg prosthetics have allowed Zion to be very active, including walking, running and jumping. “So I felt like I was willing to take this risk for him, and if he wants to be able to play horizontal bars and football”. Hospital officials in Philadelphia believe Zion is the youngest person to undergo a double-hand transplant, which requires a lifetime of immune-suppressing drugs to ensure the body doesn’t reject the new limbs.

Several weeks of recovery and many months of physical therapy are still ahead for Zion, but he has a bright future to look forward to. Two rows of relatives attended the news conference, and they stood to be recognized at Zion’s request. “Thank you for helping me through this bumpy road”, he said.

The donor’s family chose to remain anonymous.

Children’s hospital said they would not be held responsible for Zion family any other costs that may be covered by medical insurance.