Call for hands to be listed on donor cards
QUADRUPLE amputee Corinne Hutton has called for hands to be added to the donor card following the success of the UK’s first double hand transplant.
The Scottish mother-ofone has been on the waiting list for a double hand transplant for two years and has led a high-profile campaign to raise awareness of her plight.
Her call for changes to the donor card comes after Chris King had donor hands stitched on in a 12-hour pioneering operation.
Ms Hutton, 46, from Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, said she was “thrilled” for Mr King, from South Yorkshire, and hopes that she will soon be holding a glass herself and joining him for a beer.
She said: “I was really emotional to hear of Chris’s successful transplant. I can only imagine how it feels for him to look down and see he has hands again.
“It’s not just about getting his hands back though, it’s about getting his life back and I empathise completely.
“I’ve been waiting for two years for the same thing to happen to me but unfortunately, due to the fact I had blood transfusions when I was ill, finding a match for me is proving more difficult. “What’s more, there is a huge lack of awareness that such a procedure is even possible.”
Ms Hutton had her hands and feet amputated in 2013 following a near-fatal case of pneumonia and septicaemia.
The single mother runs her own charity, Finding Your Feet, which helps other amputees through sport and recreation.
She added: “I’ve spent the last year campaigning for hands to be more widely acknowledged and recognised as something that can be transplanted.
“It is so much more visible than a heart, lung or kidney and therefore for families to agree to donate their loved one’s hands is a hugely sensitive and difficult decision.
“I hope that the success of Chris’s operation will raise awareness of my own plight and of other hand amputees out there who could benefit from such pioneering surgery.
“But I would like to take it further.
“There is currently no option on the donor card to donate your hands. I want that to change.
“I look forward to meeting Chris in due course to congratulate him and hear about his experience.
“Who knows, maybe soon enough I’ll be holding a glass and joining him for a beer. I certainly hope so.
“I hope the success of Chris’s transplant will throw further spotlight on the need for hand donors and that these operations will become a regular procedure, restoring the life of amputees across the UK.”
Mr King, who lost both hands in a metal-pressing machine accident at work three years ago, underwent the surgery at Leeds General Infirmary.
Speaking about his donor, he said: “It’s difficult to say thank you.
“It’s like somebody putting an arm round you, saying you’ll be alright.”