A 25-year-old native of Karnataka and a 29-year-old from Iraq, who lost both their hands due to electric shock, underwent bilateral hand transplants at Amrita Hospital here recently.
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The transplant was done with limbs harvested from donors, who died in road accidents in the State. Amaresh, working with Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company (GESCOM) in Yadgir, Karnataka, had lost both his hands in an electrical accident some years ago, according to a release.
The transplanted hands belonged to 54-year-old Vinod, who died in a road accident at his native place in Kollam. He was declared brain-dead on January 4, 2022, and his family agreed to donate his organs.
Yousif Hasan, an interior construction worker from Baghdad, met with an accident in April 2019 when he was drilling a wall. The driller unexpectedly came into contact with a concealed high-voltage electric cable, electrocuting him instantly.
He received the hands of 39-year-old Ambily of Alappuzha, who was declared brain-dead following a road accident. Both the bilateral hand transplants took over 16 hours. It was carried out by a team led by Dr. Subramania Iyer, professor and head, Centre for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and Dr. Mohit Sharma, professor at the Centre for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.