I’ll take my new hands right round the world
Transplant mum in pledge to honour family of donor
A TRANSPLANT recipient yesterday told how she wants to take her new hands ‘all over the world’ to honour the donor’s family.
Corinne Hutton, 48, underwent the intricate procedure last week after a five-year wait for a suitable match.
The mother, from Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, lost her hands and feet in 2013 after suffering acute pneumonia and sepsis, which almost killed her.
Experts had been working to find suitable replacement hands for the former businesswoman, who has campaigned to help raise awareness of limb donation.
Speaking for the first time since her operation, Miss Hutton said she now wants to ‘take her hands all over the world’.
She told BBC News: ‘It’s surprising. I thought I would have to convince myself that these were my hands.
‘In fact, it’s the other way around. They feel like mine already – the very first day they did.’
Thanking the donor’s family, Miss Hutton added: ‘I think it’s incredibly brave, a big, big decision for the family to make.
‘I knew that all along when I looked into the donor process.
‘I know what it means to them, I just hope they know that these hands have gone to somebody who will push them hard.
‘I’ll take these hands all over the world and I’ll do the best things with them, I really will. They are life-changing for me.’
Miss Hutton said the first thing she will do once she has full use of her hands is to hold her son, adding: ‘I want to hold my son’s hand. He always holds mine, so I’m going to hold his hand.
‘At ten years old, he might not be happy about that.’
Following a number of failed possible donations, Miss Hutton received a phone call on January 7 telling her that hands had been found with her blood group, skin tone and size.
Surgeons carried out the 12-hour procedure at Leeds General Infirmary the following day.
Lead surgeon Professor Simon Kay explained the difficulties with her case. He said: ‘Corinne was particularly challenging because we knew that, if this didn’t go well, we may have made her worse off.
‘We have known her for years and we have a very strong bond with her.’
The team working on the transplant included Professor Andrew Hart from Glasgow, who performed the surgery to remove her hands and lower legs in 2013.
Miss Hutton, who ran her own graphics company in Glasgow, was 43 when she went to her doctor after suffering from a bad cough for two weeks.
Her GP told her she had a chest infection and sent her to the pharmacy for antibiotics.
Only 24 hours later she was in hospital with total organ failure and given less than a 5 per cent chance of survival.
She lost her legs and hands as a result of sepsis, which shut down the circulation to her limbs.