Afghan army captain gets Indian hands in rare transplant

Doctors in Kerala's Kochi city have successfully transplanted a new pair of hands on an Afghan army captain, who had lost his arms in a mine blast in 2012.

Thirty-year-old Abdul Rahim, who is undergoing physiotherapy exercises every day, has even managed to hold water bottles and write.

Rahim lost both his hands during demining operations in Kandahar three years ago.

Rahim approached the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences four months ago, after scouting for hand transplant in several countries. The donor was a 54-year-old brain dead accident victim from Kerala.

"My hand was cut in 2012, 20th April. I am very happy with my new hands, thank you doctor Iyer sir and total staff of Amrita Hospital and the people of India," said Rahim.

The transplant was carried out in a marathon surgical feat lasting for almost 15 hours with more than 20 surgeons and eight anaesthetics participating in the procedure.

Professor and head of plastic surgery department at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr. Subramania Iyer, said that it was his team's second such successful transplant.

"To a certain extend it was much more easier than the first one as the whole team was tuned to the procedure, it was bit more difficult than the other one because the hand was procured in another slightly far sway theatre and the coordination had to be bit more meticulous in

this particular case," said Dr. Iyer.

The hands were transplanted from a 68- year-old chartered accountant, Mathew George, who was one of the four Indians killed in the Kabul attack on Wednesday.