Soldier who received double arm transplant 'humbled by gift'
KSLA 12 | Jennifer Bowen
Photo: Brendan Marrocco, who lost his limbs in 2009 in a roadside bomb attack, recently received new arms in a double arm transplant. (Source: CNN)
BALTIMORE (RNN) - A soldier who lost all four of his limbs in Iraq has successfully undergone a double arm transplant.
In what Johns Hopkins Hospital calls the most complicated limb transplant procedure ever performed in the U.S., doctors surgically attached the arms to Brendan Marrocco, who lost his limbs in 2009 in a roadside bomb attack.
Marrocco, joined by a team of surgeons, showed the new arms to the media on Tuesday. The procedure was performed on Dec. 18 of last year.
"It's given me a lot of hope for the future. I feel like I'm getting a second chance to start over after I got hurt. So I'm excited, excited for the future and see where I can go with it," Marrocco, 26, said.
Surgeons also transplanted bone marrow to help prevent rejection of the limbs.
Marrocco, who completed his training at Fort Benning, GA before being assigned to the 25th Infantry Division based at Schofield Barracks, HI, was the first soldier to ever survive losing all four limbs.
He says six weeks out from the operation, he can move his right elbow, which was the elbow he was born with, not an attachment.
He isn't yet able to move his left arm, but says he is hopeful "to get some pretty good function out of it" in the future.
In what Johns Hopkins Hospital calls the most complicated limb transplant procedure ever performed in the U.S., doctors surgically attached the arms to Brendan Marrocco, who lost his limbs in 2009 in a roadside bomb attack.
Marrocco, joined by a team of surgeons, showed the new arms to the media on Tuesday. The procedure was performed on Dec. 18 of last year.
"It's given me a lot of hope for the future. I feel like I'm getting a second chance to start over after I got hurt. So I'm excited, excited for the future and see where I can go with it," Marrocco, 26, said.
Surgeons also transplanted bone marrow to help prevent rejection of the limbs.
Marrocco, who completed his training at Fort Benning, GA before being assigned to the 25th Infantry Division based at Schofield Barracks, HI, was the first soldier to ever survive losing all four limbs.
He says six weeks out from the operation, he can move his right elbow, which was the elbow he was born with, not an attachment.
He isn't yet able to move his left arm, but says he is hopeful "to get some pretty good function out of it" in the future.
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