A German farmer who received the world's first complete double arm transplant is recovering well and able to perform some basic tasks, though doctors said Wednesday it still could take up to two years before he relearns how to use his hands.Doctors spent 15 hours on July 25-26 grafting the donor arms onto the body of 54-year-old Karl Merk, who lost his own just below the shoulder in a farm accident involving a combine six years ago.
"These are my arms, and I'm not giving them away again," Merk said at a news conference at the Munich University Clinic where the operation was done.
It took five teams of medical professionals — a total of some 40 surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and other helpers — to carry out the operation. Merk said that when he first woke up, he could not believe it had been carried off successfully.
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