Leeds hospital performs UK’s first hand transplant

A patient at Leeds General Infirmary has become the recipient of the first ever hand transplant in the UK.

The complex eight-hour operation took place on December 27th 2012, allowing 51-year-old Mark Cahill to receive a new right hand to replace his original non-functional appendage using a brand new technique.

With this innovative method, nerve structures were restored more accurately than ever before, meaning he will be able to perform basic tasks such as cutting up food or tying shoelaces, with feeling and slight movement already returning to the hand.

This also marks the first time in which a patient's original hand was removed during the same operation as the new one was transplanted.

Consultant plastic surgeon Professor Simon Kay, who led the surgical team, said the procedure is "the culmination of a great deal of planning and preparation over the last two years by a team including plastic surgery, transplant medicine and surgery, immunology, psychology, rehabilitation medicine, pharmacy and many other disciplines".

The government is constantly making efforts to encourage more people to join the Organ Donor Register, as currently only 31 percent of people in the UK are members, despite more than 10,000 people in the UK currently being in need of a transplant.