Karl Merk, a German dairy farmer whose arms had been amputated after an accident involving a farm maize threshing machine, said he felt like a "whole man" again as he spoke for the first time since the operation in July.
When Merk lost his arms six years ago, he was found by a colleague as he lay bleeding to death, screaming: "Kill me, kill me!" But the man saved his life instead. Doctors at the teaching hospital of the Technical University in Munich then planned a world first: to transplant two arms at once.
The difficult operation was conducted over two days in July and involved a team of 40 surgeons and nurses working in two operating rooms removing the arms from the donor, who had died only hours before, and transplanting them to Merk, who had only been left with small stumps just below his shoulders following his amputations.
The medical team said that hand and lower arm transplants were still rare and that the Munich operation, by attaching an elbow joint as well as an upper arm, posed a greater challenge for the immune and circulatory systems.
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- groups:
- News, Green, News and Politics, WTF, 2 more
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- JanaPokana
- added this
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It's SCIENCE!
In all seriousness, this is amazing. Hopefully, his body won't reject the arms too much, and he can get adjusted to having someone else's arms being attached to him.
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Wow this is amazing. now we're just a step away from transplanting body parts grown in a lab.
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And now for the terrible jokes: Give this man a round of applause!
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Wow.....I can imagine wanting to die because of the loss of both arms. Congrats to him and his feeling wholeness. Hopefully the arms continue to be a blessing and work well.
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high-five it!!
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- outtheinside
- 1 year ago
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golf clap!!!
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That's amazing, though I hope this guy knows what the implications are in terms of anti-rejection meds and eventual rejection (that's unavoidable with the technology we have now). One of the first arm transplant patients actually ended up giving up his transplant in favour of a prosthetic because he wasn't able to adapt psychologically to it, or physically to the drugs.
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wow
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- Ecotainment
- 1 year ago
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How weird would it be to be his wife, having some strangers hands touching you.
Also, if the skin tone didn't match his body.-
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- asinine_cloud
- 1 year ago
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wow, i truely hope his body doesnt reject the donors arms. that is amazing and he can hae his life back. Congrats.
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Just think, where have those arms been?
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Armed with the skills and knowledge, anything is possible. Deserved congratulations all round - give the surgeons a hand ... now give them another one :)
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- EclecticBadger
- 1 year ago
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yea, science is fucking amazing. I wonder how his brain is going to deal with controlling the new hands. It'll definitely be interesting to watch.
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- bimmer_man
- 1 year ago
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what if he has murderous hands? will they try to kill him in his sleep? What if they belonged to an old woman? will he have a strange impulse to crochet? What if they belonged to a ref? Will he be signaling plays an throwing yellow flags without warning? So many questions...so many needing answering....
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If he jerked off, would it be gay?
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This ... is awesome.
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- DonkeyPong
- 1 year ago
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Amazing. Will be even more amazing if his body doesn't reject them, and he regains most motor function with his fingers. I do hope it works out.
An absolutely monstrous ordeal this guy's been through. Most of us will only get an inkling of the suffering he's experienced. -
good luck to the guy
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People would question the ethics behind this, but I don't see any 'arm in it.
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- DonkeyPong
- 1 year ago
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Let give a round of applause for Karl Merk, Go you!
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- xgrape_juicex
- 1 year ago
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I dunno...could be bad news.
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HOLY SHIT ! I am a chronic shoulder dislocation entity and I cant even get a fucking doctor to look at me and go "yup thats jacked up, you need a GO-GO GADGET ARM"
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I wonder if he is going to be able to have any dexterity in his hands?
