U.S. soldier receives rare double arm transplant

[mahatmakanejeeves]

10. Soldier who lost all limbs in Iraq gets double arm transplant

Press conference today.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/blog/bs-hs-arm-transplant-announcement-20130128,0,6358314.story|

Brendan Marrocco, 26, was the first soldier to survive losing all four limbs in the Iraq War, and doctors revealed Monday that he received a double-arm transplant on December 18 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. (Jan. 29)

By Andrea K. Walker, The Baltimore Sun

1:55 p.m. EST, January 29, 2013
A soldier who lost all of his limbs in the Iraq War received double arm transplants at Johns Hopkins Hospital last month in a rare procedure that has already begun to restore some normalcy to his life.

Hopkins doctors are to speak in detail about the rare procedure performed on 26-year-old Brendan Marrocco in a press briefing today. The Army infantryman lost his arms and legs in a roadside bomb attack in 2009 becoming the first soldier of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to lose all four limbs in combat and survive.

Lead surgeon Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee said in a phone interview that it could take a couple of years for the arms to become fully functional, but that Marrocco is already able to use a computer and has been tweeting. He is expected to be discharged from the hospital today.