I wouldn't take this as a reflection on the procedure itself. Dunno
if you've ever seen this guy, but he's a flake, a con, and (I
believe) an ex-con. It was like he was TRYING to screw himself (and
"his" hand) up...
jm
On 13 Feb 2001, at 23:14, Chris Rasch wrote:
> London Sunday Times
> February 4, 2001
> http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/02/04/stinwenws03003.html1
>
> THE world's first hand-transplant patient has had his new hand
> amputated after his body began to reject it, writes Adam NathanAdam
> Nathan.
>
> The operation was carried out in London on Clint Hallam, a New
> Zealander, after he had pleaded to have it removed. Earl Owen, an
> Australian microsurgeon who co-led the international team that
> performed the revolutionary operation to attach the hand in France in
> 1998, said Hallam had failed to look after it properly.
>
> "He went without drugs for weeks at a time and failed to follow the
> treatment plan," said Owen.
>
> Hallam had come to loathe his "dead man's hand", saying he had no
> feeling in it. He also had problems meeting the £10,000 yearly drug
> bill.
>
> Nadey Hakim, a surgeon at St Mary's Hospital, London, carried out the
> amputation on Friday evening in a private hospital. Hakim said the
> operation was necessary because for two months Hallam had not been
> taking the medication prescribed as part of the anti-rejection
> treatment. "His life was in danger," he said.
>
> Hallam, 50, who lost his hand in a circular saw accident in 1984, is
> expected to be able to leave hospital tomorrow. He had declared that
> his body and mind had said "enough is enough" and the hand should be
> amputated.
>
> Hallam said for the first year, the right hand - which had belonged to
> a French motorcyclist killed in an accident - had functioned well.
>
> But there had been constant "pockets of rejection". He denied this was
> sparked by failure to take medication.
>
> Previously he had talked of being "mentally detached" from the hand,
> which was larger than his own.
>
>
>
John Marlow
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:56:39 MDT