the man with the transplanted hands

Posted by m1k3y on October 6th, 2009 in medical, prosthetics

The Lancaster Online reports:


..the double transplant was a bit of setback for Kepner, who had lost part of both of his arms and legs in 1999…After the amputations, Kepner was outfitted with prosthetic hands and feet and forged on with his life.

“He had gotten quite used to his hooks,” his mother says of her son’s artificial arms. “He could dress himself. He could drive his car. He could do a lot of things.”

…after the double hand transplant, Kepner had to start over again…Now in therapy, he is learning how to pick up small items, like cotton balls, and catch a ball, but he still has no feeling in his fingers. The nerves grow about an inch a month from where the hands were attached, at the forearm.

“They told him it will be at least until the end of the year before those nerves get down into those fingers,” Doris Schafer said. “Then he’ll begin to do things.”

via BoingBoing

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • del.icio.us
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.

One Response to “the man with the transplanted hands”

  1. [...] the man with the transplanted hands [...]