Finally, medical science has made a breakthrough as Penn Medicine and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was able to transplant arms and forearms to a ten year old child last Tuesday.
According to CBS News, it was the first time that the world witnessed a person being transplanted arms and forearms successfully last Tuesday. After a 10-hour surgery that was initiated early this month that took about 40 nurses, doctors and surgeons led by Dr. L. Scott Levin, who is also the chairman of the department of Orthopedic Surgery in the Penn Medicine and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Zion Harvey finally got his new pair of arms and forearms.
The 10-year old boy first lost his limbs and needed a kidney transplant when he was diagnosed to have acquired a serious infection at the age of two. Since then, he was handless and feetless. Thanks to this medical team, he is not able to use his arms due to the said transplant.
It was also Penn's first attempt at a bilateral hand transplant on an adult which was initiated last 2011. The said operation gave them the foundation to adapt the complex techniques and coordinated actions that were required to complete that type of procedure on the 10-year old. Furthermore, this is evidence that Penn is one of the few medical facilities in the entire world that is capable of sustaining such an operation that improves the quality of life of several individuals who could not recover from their disabilities.
According to Yahoo! News, after the operation concluded, Harvey was seen heavily bandaged but his hands could be seen. It was evident that the child was tremendously thankful to the people who were able to help him recover parts of his body that he lost when he was still a young boy. In fact, Dr. Levin indicated that the boy woke up from the surgery smiling and never showed signs of any complaint on pain or discomfort.
Truly, Penn Medicine and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has changed the life of Zion Harvey in a hug way. Regaining his arms and forearms from the transplant surgery made him capable of holding things like a normal person again. What do you think are several other possibilities that medical science can provide into the lives of the disabled? Post your comments below.
