Man Thankful for Double Arm Transplant
Man Thankful for Double Arm Transplant – Just in time for Thanksgiving, Will Lautzenheiser expressed gratitude Tuesday for an extraordinary gift: two new arms. The 40-year old stand-up comic and former film teacher received a double-arm transplant from an anonymous donor and can move his thumb and wrist. He appeared at a press conference with his arms in splints, and is expected to continue to gain function and sensation over the next several years. He said, “I hope to be able to live up to the memory of this man and make this worthwhile.”
Lautzenheiser lost both arms and legs after an aggressive streptococcus A infection led to sepsis and required quadruple amputation in 2011. Earlier this year he was approved for a rare bilateral arm transplant.
It took a team of 35 clinicians, including 13 surgeons, to complete the surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston that lasted close to nine hours.
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