Britain’s first ever double hand transplant patient is now able to write and clap his rugby team

The UK’s first double hand transplant patient has described his joy at being able to drink, write – and clap his favourite rugby team.

Chris King, 57, became the second person to have a hand transplant at the UK’s specialist centre for the operation at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) and the first to have both hands replaced during surgery in July last year.

He lost both hands in a metal pressing accident four years ago and was unable to perform simple, everyday tasks as a result.

But Mr King can now enjoy all the simple tasks he took for granted – the first of which was writing a thankyou letter to his hand surgeon.

Mr King, from Rossington, near Doncaster, demonstrated how he can now do a range of tasks, including writing, making a cup of tea and gardening as he progresses even faster than his surgeon anticipated.

He said he is improving every week and his next aims are to tie his own shoelaces and button up his shirt.

Mr King said: “They are my boys, they really are. It’s been going fantastically.

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“I can make a fist, I can hold a pen, I can do more or less the same functions as I could with my original hands.

“There are still limitations but I’m getting back to the full Chris again.”

Shortly after his operation, Mr King said his first aim was to pour a pint of his favourite Yorkshire ale, Timothy Taylor’s, from a bottle.

He said: “I did enjoy it. It tasted sweeter because of what I had done. It was a little mini-celebration, just for me.”

And he said he is amazed how much he enjoys clapping, especially when cheering on Leeds Rhinos on the rugby pitch, or his football team, Leeds United.

Mr King lost both his hands, except the thumbs, in the accident at his work in Doncaster four years ago.

He was close to death in the ambulance after the terrible incident, but a team of what he calls the “unsung heroes” at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital managed to save his life and enough of his lower limbs to enable the later transplant surgery.

Consultant plastic surgeon Professor Simon Kay performed the first UK hand transplant on Mark Cahill at the LGI and also did Mr King’s transplant.

The pair have since become friends and are now members of an exclusive club, which now has an additional member after Prof Kay’s team carried out a further double transplant.

The hospital is hoping the procedure will one day be as routine as a kidney transplant.

Mr King said his handwriting is improving every day, now he has decided he will resume being left-handed.

He added: “Everything’s just progressing and it’s bigger strides too that I’m making – bigger than I thought I’d ever be doing.

“I think that will be the icing on the cake when I can do my laces, and I don’t think that’s far off.”

Mr King is determined to again thank the family of the person who donated his hands and encourage others to do provide what he calls “this wonderful gift”.

He said: ”Become a donor and live your life to the full like I want to live now. That’s the message I’d like to get over.

“It’s so wonderful. We can do some great things in this country. If only we can push it a bit more and don’t be afraid to be a donor.”

After the operation last year, the donor’s family issued a statement which said: “Our brother was a kind, caring and considerate person who would have given the shirt off his back to help somebody in need.

“Learning that he had registered as an organ donor made our decision to support him donating so much easier.”

Top pic: PA