Zion Harvey – Youngest Patient to Receive Double-Hand Transplant

8-year-old Zion Harvey is the youngest person to receive a double-hand transplant.

Zion Harvey with his mother Pattie Ray at a press conference. (Courtesy: AP Screengrab)

An 8-year-old boy who lost his hands and feet to a serious infection has become the youngest patient to receive a double-hand transplant, surgeons said on Tuesday.

Zion Harvey’s forearms were heavily bandaged but his hands were visible as he flashed some big smiles at a hospital news conference.

The boy, from the Baltimore suburb of Owings Mills, Maryland, received the transplant earlier this month at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The doctors did not publicly disclose the nearly 11-hour operation until this week. A 40-person medical team used steel plates and screws to attach the old and new bones. Surgeons then painstakingly reconnected Zion’s arteries, veins, muscles, tendons and nerves.

Zion, as a toddler, contracted sepsis. The resulting multiple organ failure forced the amputation of his hands and feet.

He learned to use his forearms to write, eat and play video games and has been attending school.

Hospital officials in Philadelphia believe Zion is the youngest person to have undergone such a surgery.

I want to say to you guys, thank you for helping me through this bumpy road.
— Zion Harvey

(With inputs from AP)