Right to Arms in Germany

German doing well after 1st double arm transplant

Original Article

MUNICH, Germany - A German farmer who received the world's first complete double arm transplant said Wednesday that incredulity gave way to joy when he woke from surgery to discover he had arms again. Karl Merk, who lost his arms in a farming accident six years ago, said he at first could not believe that the transplant appeared to have been succesful. "It was really overwhelming when I saw that I had arms again," said the 54-year-old, who wore a sleeveless black shirt showing clearly where his new arms had been grafted. "These are my arms, and I'm not giving them away again," he told reporters at the Munich University Clinic where he remains nearly three months after the 15-hour operation. Merk is recovering well and can perform simple tasks such as opening doors and turning lights on and off. His ultimate goals are to eat and dress himself — and ride a motorcycle. "All in all, our wildest expectations have pretty much been fulfilled," said Christoph Hoehnke, one of the lead doctors. A total of 40 surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and other support staff carried out the 15-hour operation on July 25-26 to graft the donor's arms on to the body of Merk, who lost his own just below the shoulder in a combine harvester accident. Doctors said there were good indications of nerve growth in the arms but it could take up to two years before he relearns how to use his hands. Merk appeared at the news conference Wednesday with lower arms bandaged and supported with a series of straps attached to shoulder pads. Merk said he was looking forward to going home after four to six more weeks of an intensive program of physiotherapy, electric stimulation and psychological counseling. There is also still a risk that Merk's immune system will react, though doctors said so far there was no sign of them being rejected.

I love his ultimate goal: "...to ride a motorcycle."

I thought the treaties signed after World War II did not allow the Germans to arm themselves...

How would they convince somebody to donate their arms? Did they use duct tape?

Whoa that's badass. I didn't know doctors could do limb transplants.

Man, that would be strange. The length would be wrong, position of the elbows, size of fingers... I'd think you'd be doomed to a life of knocking things over and dropping them. (Then again I do that just fine with the arms I've had from birth.)

Did he get both arms from the same donor? I hope so.

J

You don't need arms to hold up a patio

If that happened in the US he could have had much hairier arms with claws

gives new meaning to "the stranger"

AngryCorvair wrote: gives new meaning to "the stranger"

I just spit water into my keyboard.

Thanks for that.

AngryCorvair wrote: gives new meaning to "the stranger"

That took me a second. Ugh.

How do you get mountain dew out of your trackball?

Tumbler: Yo, so check out my new move. I call it "the Stranger." What I do is, I sit on my hand for, like, 15, 20 minutes, until it goes numb. No feeling at all. And then I rub one out.

Toby: "The Stranger," huh?

Atley Jackson: It's like a little boy's nursery school I've come upon here.

thatsnowinnebago wrote: Whoa that's badass. I didn't know doctors could do limb transplants.

Oh yea, there's a lot of amazing medical things that happen in Europe that Americans don't hear about and refuse to believe when told of them.

foxtrapper wrote:

thatsnowinnebago wrote: Whoa that's badass. I didn't know doctors could do limb transplants.

Oh yea, there's a lot of amazing medical things that happen in Europe that Americans don't hear about and refuse to believe when told of them.

We've had several hand transplants done here in Louisville, KY over the past few years. (Yea, two arms kinda trumps that, but still.)

-James

Jay wrote: Did he get both arms from the same donor? I hope so.

Not possible. The headline says he has the right two arms.

(oh come on, like you guys's was any better)

jamscal wrote: We've had several hand transplants done here in Louisville, KY over the past few years. (Yea, two arms kinda trumps that, but still.)

I don't know about that. A hand is more complex than an arm. If you can graft on a hand and have everything hook up and function, that is at least as complicated as an arm where you're grafting a big thick bone and long large muscles.

I thought hands had no muscles, just tendons leading to all the muscles in the arm.

(self test) Okay, there's a muscle or three in the thumb region, but the fingers definitely get their motivation up in the forearm.

Salanis wrote:

jamscal wrote: We've had several hand transplants done here in Louisville, KY over the past few years. (Yea, two arms kinda trumps that, but still.)

I don't know about that. A hand is more complex than an arm. If you can graft on a hand and have everything hook up and function, that is at least as complicated as an arm where you're grafting a big thick bone and long large muscles.

Good point. From a medical perspective, two hands may well be more complicated.

From a practical standpoint, going from no arms to two arms (with hands) is more impressive to me.

-James