Matthew Scott was 37 years old when he received the first
U.S. hand transplant at the Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Ky., in 1999.
He underwent a 15 hour operation on January 24, 1999 on his left hand.
He received the left hand from a 58 year old male cadaver. He was an Absecon,
N.J. paramedic who had lost left hand in a fireworks accident at the age
of 24. Scott did say to ABC that he feels balanced with his new hand,
can carry both of his sons at the same time and feels as if the new hand
is his own. A year and a half after the operation, Matthew Scott could
sense temperature, pressure and pain, and could write, turn the pages
of a newspaper, throw a baseball and tie his shoelaces. This shows a certain
level of success. However, Matthew, as wells as all the other hand transplant
patients, must remain on immunosuppressant his whole life.
Jerry Fisher, 36, became the second person to receive
a hand transplant in the United States. He also received this surgery
at Jewish Hospital. The hand transplant team included: Jon W. Jones, Jr.,
M.D., John H. Barker, M.D., Ph.D., and Gordon R. Tobin, M.D. He received
the transplant on February 16, 2001.
The world’s first successful hand transplant from a cadaver donor
was performed on September 1998 in France on Clint Hallam,
a 49-year-old New Zealander. An international team of scientists, headed
by Professor Earl Owen from Sydney and Jean-Michel Dubernard from the
Lyon hospital, did the surgery at the Edouard Herriot Hospital in Lyon,
which lasted more than 13 hours. Sadly, He refused to follow the immunosuppressant
and therapy regiment. This led to rejection of the hand and ultimately
led to amputation. Since then, Clint as shown interest in receiving another
hand transplant, but because of France’s new laws, he will not receive
another.
