Unlike most people, Shreya Siddanagowda likes going to the hospital. On Wednesday, the 19-year-old chemical engineering student of Manipal Institute of Technology, who lost both her hands in a road mishap, got a new lease of life through an upper-arm double hand-transplant.
The donor was Sachin, a 20-year-old BCom student in his final year at Ernakulam’s Rajagiri College. He had been declared brain-dead after suffering a fatal head injury in a motorcycle accident.
“My whole world collapsed and I couldn’t believe what had happened. When my mother told me that hand transplants are now being done in India, I got great strength and hope, and my disability began to look temporary. I felt that one day, I will lead a near-normal life again,” said Shreya.
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It took 13 hours, 20 surgeons, and a 16-member anaesthetic team led by Dr Subrahmania Iyer, head, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Department, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, to complete the transplant.
“There was a lot of complexity involved. In such operations, we have to accurately identify and connect various nerves, muscles, tendons, and arteries, which is challenging. Only nine such transplants have been conducted in the world till now,” said Dr Iyer.
She has been discharged from the hospital and put on an intensive physiotherapy and rehabilitation program. “We expect that she will regain 85% of hand function in the next one-and-a-half years,” said Dr Mohit Sharma, who, along with Dr Ravishankaran, played lead roles in the surgery.
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“I thank the donor Sachin’s family and doctors at Amrita Hospital for giving my life back,” said a beaming Shreya.
Amrita Hospital has performed such historical surgeries like India’s first hand transplant on a 30-year-old patient, Manu TR, and another in April 2015 on a young Afghan soldier.
Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
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