Clint Hallam

Clint Hallam (born in New Zealand) was the first recipient of a human hand transplant.[1] Hallam lost his hand in a circular saw accident at Rolleston Prison in 1984, where he was incarcerated after a fraud conviction. The original reattachment of the severed limb failed, and he had his hand amputated.[2]

Transplantation

A surgery team led by Australian Earl Owen and Frenchman Jean-Michel Dubernard transplanted a new hand on 23 September 1998 in a 13-hour-long operation in Lyon, France. At the time of the transplant Clint Hallam faced fraud charges in Australia, in relation to a national fuel-card scam totalling $30,000.[3] After an initial period of two years during which he had no motor control of the transplanted hand, Hallam voluntarily stopped taking immunosuppressive drugs.

The transplanted hand was amputated on 3 February 2001 by Nadey Hakim.[4] Hallam had issues with the transplant because of failure to take anti-rejection medicine regularly, and performing the exercises required to build strength and motor capabilities.[2]

References
  1. "A Pioneering Transplant, and Now an Ethical Storm" The New York Times, 6 December 2005
  2. Britain's first hand transplant 'in 2012', The Daily Telegraph, 26 December 2011
  3. Hand-transplant man ran away with his nurse, Dominion Post, 31 January 2009
  4. Grasping at straws with a dead man's hand, Dominion Post, 27 September 2014
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