NHS performs world’s first double hand transplant for scleroderma

[Still Waters]

A roof tiler whose hands were left unusable by an autoimmune disease has told of his joy after NHS surgeons successfully performed the world’s first double hand transplant for the condition.

Steven Gallagher was forced to stop working after scleroderma, a condition that scars the skin and internal organs, caused his hands to close up into a fist position. After first developing an unusual rash about 13 years ago, the condition then affected his nose and mouth, his fingers began curling in and he suffered “horrendous” pain.

But after undergoing a 12-hour operation at Leeds teaching hospital NHS trust – the first time anywhere in the world that hand transplantation has been used to replace hands terminally affected by scleroderma – he can turn on the tap and fill a glass of water for the first time in years. Gallagher, 48, is now hoping to return to work.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/may/26/nhs-performs-worlds-first-double-hand-transplant-for-scleroderma