Today, the Trust launched its newest podcast series, In Safe Hands, which offers listeners a deep dive into the life-changing world of hand transplants. Through captivating stories from both patients and medical professionals, the podcast highlights the emotional journeys of those who have experienced the challenges and rewards of receiving a hand transplant.
Leeds is home to the UK’s pioneering Hand Transplant Programme, and the podcast sheds light on the incredible, physical and psychological complexities faced by people who have lost their hands and how this remarkable procedure has changed their lives.
Listeners can hear first-hand accounts from patients like Corinne Hutton, who in 2019, became a double hand transplant recipient after losing her hands and feet to pneumonia and sepsis. After years of adjusting to life as a quadruple amputee, Corinne’s transplant was a beacon of hope.
She recalls: “I hadn’t thought about the fact that for nearly five years, I couldn’t hold my son’s hand.”
The series also features insights from Professor Simon Kay, Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Trauma and Related Services, and Head of the Hand Transplant Programme at Leeds Teaching Hospitals. Professor Kay and his team of dedicated multidisciplinary professionals play a vital role in the highly specialised process of hand transplantation. He leads the team through every aspect of the complex process, but the patient is at the centre of every decision because there is so much more to hand transplant surgery than the clinical outcome.
Prof Kay says: “Ever since Friends, the sitcom series, there seems to have been a sort of wave across the Western world of hugging, not shaking hands, but the point about shaking hands is when you shake somebody’s hands, you feel them and you have to look them in the face.”
Since its inception in 2012, the Leeds Hand Transplant Programme has transformed lives, offering a select group of patients the chance to regain natural hand function and appearance. However, hand donation remains a complex and sensitive issue. Unlike internal organs, hands are highly visible, making the decision to donate particularly challenging for families.
NHS Blood and Transplant manages organ donation and consents donor families, whose generous gift enables transplants to take place. Limbs are not covered by the NHS Organ Donor Register but are instead donated with a special, extra consent from the family. Donor and recipient confidentiality is maintained.
Dale Gardiner, Associate Medical Director for Organ Donation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “The development of this programme has been a world-leading achievement that has transformed lives. But without the agreement for donation from families, these operations would not have taken place. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who supports donation.”
Tune into In Safe Hands via your usual podcast platform to learn more about this cutting-edge medical innovation and the profound impact it has on recipients’ lives. Listen to the first episodes.