Boy Makes History with Double-Hand Transplant

An eight-year-old boy has spoken of his plans to throw a football, climb monkey bars and hold his baby sister - after becoming the first child in the world to receive a double-hand transplant.
Zion Harvey underwent the intricate 11-hour operation earlier this month, and on Tuesday, he thanked doctors for helping him on a "bumpy road".

A 40-person surgical team used steel screws and plates to fuse together Zion's old and new bones before delicately reconnecting his muscles, nerves, tendons, veins and arteries.

Although he has several weeks of physical therapy ahead - he will soon have the fine dexterity to pick up "smaller objects like Cheerios and Legos".

An active young boy, Zion's hands and feet had to be amputated when he was a toddler, after he contracted a serious bacterial infection.

It took a team of 40 experts more than 10 hours to complete the transplant

But with the help of prosthetic legs, the schoolboy is able to walk, run and jump like his friends.

He has also learned how to write using his forearms, and was already able to feed himself and play video games before his transplant at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Zion will need to take drugs which suppress the immune system for the rest of his life - ensuring that the body does not reject his new limbs.

Doctors believed he was an ideal candidate for the operation because of how he was already taking the anti-rejection drugs for a kidney transplant.

Dr L Scott Levin described Zion as an 

"incredible little boy", adding: "This is a huge step forward in worldwide transplantation."