Maryland boy becomes youngest to receive double hand transplant

PHILADELPHIA — An 8-year-old Baltimore boy who lost his limbs to a serious infection has become the youngest patient to receive a double-hand transplant, surgeons said Tuesday.

Zion came to news conference of the hospital and his forearms were bandaged, however his hands were visible.

“He woke up smiling”, said Dr. L. Scott Levin, who heads the hand transplant program. As a result of it, he suffered multiple organ failure that led to the amputation of his feet and hands.

His mother donated her kidney to him when he was 4, after he had spent two years on dialysis treatments, according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Doctors than reconnected the veins to establish the blood flow, followed by tendons, muscles and nerves.

However, the boy remained active, learning how to run and jump using leg prosthetics, and to write, eat and play video games with his forearms. Now, physicians are expecting that he’ll become capable of achieving more milestones, together with his aims of playing on the monkey bars and throwing a football.

“Zion’s kidney transplant following his infection made him a candidate for transplant because he was already taking anti-rejection medication”, said Dr Benjamin Chang, co-director of the hospital’s hand transplantation programme.

Zion will undergo several weeks of physical rehab before returning home, said reports.

“The success of Penn’s first bilateral hand transplant on an adult, performed in 2011, gave us a foundation to adapt the intricate techniques and coordinated plans required to perform this type of complex procedure on a child”.

“I want to say to you guys, thank you for helping me through this bumpy road”, he said.

The 8-year old is expected to make a full recovery, albeit with a lifetime regime of immune-suppressing drugs, to ensure his body does not reject his limbs.

Children’s Hospital said it would not hold Zion’s family liable for any costs beyond that which may be covered by medical insurance.