38-yr-old research scholar receives hand transplant from 76-yr-old donor

Surgeons at Amrita Hospital here have harvested and transplanted five organs from a deceased 76-year-old woman donor, giving new hope to five recipients. The procedures included a double-hand transplant, a kidney transplant, corneal transplants and liver transplant in one go.

A spokesperson of the hospital said among the recipients was a 38-year-old research scholar, who had lost her limbs in a live wire incident. She now hopes for a new life as the surgery would help her regain her forehands or limbs. Claiming that the hospital’s expertise in upper limb transplantation had risen steadfastly, the official said the five successful procedures or surgeries of this kind had already been done here in the past two and half years. He said the upper limb transplantation surgery was done for the first time in the country at Kochi of Kerala in 2015.

The transplants were made possible with the organ donations by the wife of an ex-Army officer who had recently succumbed to brain haemorrhage. “The donor’s generosity has benefited multiple recipients through the donation of her kidneys, liver, corneas and upper limbs,” says Dr Mohit Sharma from the hospital.