8 Year Old Becomes World Youngest Double Hand Transplant Recipient

8 year old Baltimore boy who lost his limbs to a serious infection has become the youngest patient to receive a double-hand transplant, surgeons said Tuesday. Zion Harvey received the hands earlier this month at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, though doctors did not publicly disclose the 11-hour operation until now.

A 40-person medical team used steel plates and screws to attach the old and new bones. Surgeons then delicately reconnected arteries, veins, muscles, tendons and nerves.

Zion, a bright and precocious child, contracted a gangrene infection years ago that resulted in the amputation of his hands and feet. It also necessitated a kidney transplant, an organ he received from his mother.

Leg prosthetics have allowed Zion to be very active, including walking, running and jumping; he attends school and has learned to use his forearms to write, eat and play video games. But Zion's mother, Pattie Ray, wanted more for her son, so they looked into getting him prosthetics for his hands as well.

Not satisfied with the prototypes they tried, a doctor suggest that transplants could be an option for Zion. Ray says the decision to go through with the procedure was completely her son's. 'If he wanted them we were going to get them. If we didn't we weren't,” Ray told the Baltimore Sun.