X-Message-Number: 12825 Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 16:56:05 -0500 From: Jan Coetzee <> Subject: Transplant's Grip Comes to Life First U.S. Hand Transplant's Grip Comes to Life LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Reuters) - A New Jersey man who 10 months ago became the first person in the United States to undergo a hand transplant is now able to open doors and tie his shoes, doctors said on Tuesday. Matthew Scott, 38, has made excellent progress and ``range of motion, grip and sensation have partially returned sufficiently to allow good hand function,'' Jewish Hospital said in a statement. Scott, of Absecon, New Jersey, lost his left hand in a fireworks accident nearly 10 years ago. During a 15-hour operation on Jan. 24 and 25 doctors replaced it with a hand taken from a donor who had just died. The hospital statement said Scott uses his new hand to open his car door, turn door knobs, pick up and hold objects, and tie his shoes. He returned to work June 1 as a clinical coordinator at Virtua Health in New Jersey and as an instructor at Camden County College. ``This Thanksgiving, which is exactly 10 months to the day of my surgery, I am most thankful for the courage and generosity of the donor family,'' the hospital quoted Scott as saying. ``It was their compassion that made this unbelievable gift possible.'' Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=12825