Soldier Who Lost All Four Limbs Gets Successfull Double Arm Transplant

What an inspiring story!

A 26-year-old retired U.S. Army sergeant who lost all four of his limbs in 2009 roadside bomb attack in Iraq left Johns Hopkins Hospital on Tuesday (January 29th), six weeks after undergoing a successful rare double arm transplant at the Baltimore medical center.

Sergeant Brendan Marrocco of Staten Island, New York, who is the first U.S. solider in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to survive losing both arms and legs, said at a news conference, "I feel like I'm getting a second chance to start over. I'm just looking forward to everything I would have wanted to do over the last four years."

He told reporters, "I hated having no arms. I was alright with having no legs." Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee, who headed the transplant team, said that although the surgery was successful, it will be a few years before Marrocco's nerves regenerate and he regains significant use of his arms. But Marrocco, who wheeled himself into the news conference despite saying his right arm and both hands have little or no feeling or movement, was in good spirits, saying, "We'll get there."