Mother ‘can’t wait to get life back’ with her new hands
A MOTHER of three who has become the first woman in the UK to have a double hand transplant says she cannot wait to brush her daughters’ hair again.
Tania Jackson, 42, lost both hands and her left arm to sepsis and was convinced she would have to use prosthetics for the rest of her life.
But while recovering in hospital, Ms Jackson watched a television programme about Corinne Hutton, the first woman to be placed on the hand transplant register. She put herself forward and was chosen to begin the pioneering process at Leeds General Infirmary. After a 15-hour procedure last month, Ms Jackson, from Hull, now has a new arm and two new hands.
“I have all sort of emotions,” she said. “I can’t wait to get my life back again and be independent. It is just the normal things I am looking forward to most, being able to brush my daughters’ hair and hold their hands. I am so excited for the future.”
Ms Jackson added: “It is just the little things that you take for granted [which I can do again]. Getting your money out of your purse. The little things.”
Professor Simon Kay, a plastic surgeon who has carried out the procedure on five patients, said they would become more common as more patients recover. He said he was “enormously proud” of his unit at Leeds, adding: “No transplants are possible without the courage of the patients who donate.”