Double Hand Transplant in Georgia

[pioneer]

Yahoo News

A Georgia man is recovering in Pittsburgh after becoming the first U.S. recipient of a double hand transplant.

A University of Pittsburgh Medical Center spokeswoman says 57-year-old Jeff Kepner is stable after a day of surgery that ended Monday night.

Kepner is a native of Lancaster, Pa., who lives in Augusta, Ga. He lost his hands and feet to a bacterial infection.

In March, the hospital performed its first hand transplant on a Marine who lost his right hand during a training exercise in Quantico, Va.

Eight double hand transplants have been performed abroad. French physicians last month performed the world's first simultaneous partial face and double hand transplant.