失去雙手不僅僅是生活的不便，身體形象的改變，還有表達愛意的失落感。

Richard Mangino在2002年，由於血行性敗血症感染，而切除腳與雙肘以下的手。儘管義肢能夠使他繼續做喜愛的畫畫與彩繪。但是，這位65歲的爺爺希望能以手感覺孫兒的臉並輕撫其髮絲，然而人工義肢是難以企及的。

由於家人的鼓舞，Mangino先生上週在波士頓，伯靈罕與婦女醫院Brigham and Women’s Hospital進行雙手移植手術；外科手術醫師表示，這是美國進行雙手移植手術的第四例。星期二的記者會中，Mangino先生接受移植的新雙手放在Mangino膝上的枕頭墊到肩膀高度的上頭，他表示：今天，奇蹟出現了！

 After Richard Mangino lost his arms below the elbows and legs below the knees from sepsis in 2002, prostheses enabled him to continue to follow his passion for painting and drawing.

But the 65-year-old Massachusetts man longed to be able to feel his grandchildren’s faces and stroke their hair, pleasures not even the most sophisticated artificial limbs could afford.

Inspired by his family, Mangino last week became the fourth person in the United States to receive a double hand transplant, according to his doctors at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

“Today my miracle has come true,” Mangino said Thursday at a press conference at the hospital, his new hands and forearms resting on pillows in his lap piled nearly to shoulder height. He’d had his limbs amputated after developing a bloodstream infection.

手術過程歷經約十二小時，院方並未透露捐贈者的身份，由於捐贈者未在駕照上註冊器官捐贈；因此，由新英格蘭器官捐贈銀行New England Donor Bank事先取得捐贈者家屬同意捐贈雙手。新英格蘭器官捐贈銀行的執行董事Richard Luskin在記者會中宣讀捐贈者遺孀的聲明文︰其夫在過世必定樂於能這樣繼續幫助他人。他常說–這只是個身體嘛，我沒掙扎猶豫過捐贈的決定。

執行手術，並同時指揮為數四十人醫療團隊的醫師Simon Talbot表示：至目前看來，狀況是奇蹟似的成功，僅術後幾天Mangino先生已經可以動動新的手指了。未來將有幾個月的治療、復健。大概六至九個月也可以感覺孫兒的臉；肌肉的運動恢復則要九個月至十八個月。

至於Mangino先生能否在玩吉他？ Simon Talbot醫師：我們不否認任何的可能性﹗

The hospital isn’t disclosing the exact date of the 12-hour operation to protect the donor’s anonymity. Registering as an organ and tissue donor on a driver’s license isn’t considered consent for this type of donation, so the New England Donor Bank had to obtain permission from the donor’s family.

At the press conference, Richard Luskin, executive director of the New England Donor Bank, read a statement from the donor’s wife.  “He would have wanted to continue helping people,” the donor’s wife said. “My husband always said, ‘it’s just a body.’ I didn’t have to struggle with the decision.”

Simon Talbot, the hand surgeon who directed the 40-member team involved in Mangino’s transplant surgery, said “the results so far have been an amazing success.” Within a few days of the operation, Talbot said, Mangino could move his fingers.

Still, Mangino faces months of therapy and healing, Talbot said. He should be able to feel his grandchildren’s faces with his hands in six to nine months, Talbot said, and his fine muscle movement should return in nine to 18 months.

When asked whether Mangino will ever be able to play the guitar again, as he had before his amputations, Talbot said, “we never say never.”

出處From：http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/14/8321876-double-hand-transplant-recipient-wants-to-feel-grandkids-faces