‘Hand transplant means I can finally hold my granddaughter for first time’

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‘This is the most precious gift I have ever received in my life,’ Kim Smith said

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A woman who lived without hands or legs for eight years after a sepsis infection turned her limbs black can now finally hold her granddaughter’s hand, thanks to a life-changing transplant.

Kim Smith had her independence ripped away from her when she contracted a urinary infection while on holiday in Spain eight years ago. Her husband was told she had just two hours to live due to developing sepsis, which turned her arms, feet and parts of her skull black.

She was in a medically induced coma for nine months and when she woke up in Milton Keynes University Hospital she was told all her limbs needed to be amputated.

“I wanted to die, I didn’t want to live like this,” Ms Smith told Sky News.

Ms Smith did raise money for prosthetic hands, but they were uncomfortable to wear and the hooks attracted unwanted attention.

After waiting four years for a perfect match, doctors found new hands for Ms Smith.

Now she has her independence back, she can brush her own hair and feed herself.

“I can do my makeup, I can brush my hair, I can feed myself. I can open the back door and let the dogs out,” she said.

“This is the most precious gift I have ever received in my life,” she added.

A hand transplant is a complex procedure and patients on the waiting list have several hurdles to overcome before they get a place on the operating table.

Patients go through a year of psychological and medical evaluations, they must then find a hand that fits in gender, size, age and ethnicity.

The limbs must also be a biological match to reduce the risk of infection.

There is a short 90-minute window from the moment the donor’s limb has no blood supply to get it onto the recipient.

But after surgery Ms Smith was in a bad condition and “had a bit of a near one with death again”.

Although she had two hand transplants, her blood pressure plummeted and doctors could only save the left hand. Because she was right-handed before, it is taking her time to adjust.

However, after just five weeks of recovery she is able to do basic tasks again and after eight years of living with no limbs she is able to hold her granddaughter’s hand.

Now Ms Smith says she can’t stop looking at her new hand and said it feels “unreal”.

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