At 2 Years Old, He Had His Hands Amputated. Now, He Can Play Baseball

INJOWhen Zion Harvey was only 2 years old, he suffered a life-threatening sepsis infection and both his hands and feet had to be amputated. In 2012, his mother, Pattie Ray, traveled with her son from Baltimore to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to discuss the possibility of getting Zion prosthetic hands.

However, doctors had a more life-like solution in mind, and in 2015, at only 8 years old, Zion received a double hand transplant, at the cost of another child's life — something that wasn't lost on the young recipient.

He told BBC, “I want to write a letter to the parents who are giving me their son's hands because they didn't have to do that if they didn't want to.”

Although the surgery was conducted on his hands, Dr. Scott Levin, surgical director of CHOP's hand transplantation program, told KTLA 5 that his brain was also closely monitored. Doctors and researchers weren't positive how certain areas of the brain would react after being out of use for so many years.

“When we gave him hands and connected his nerves to his new hands, those areas of the brain (that are responsible for hand function) woke up," Levin proudly announced.

If the surgery worked, Zion would be the youngest successful double hand transplant recipient. Fortunately, he's been thriving.

"I'm very excited. Because now I can do more than I imagined. Like throw a football. Play baseball. Or, I don't know, do a handstand,” he told NBC News. “So when I got my hands, it's like, here's the piece of my life that was missing. Now it's here. Now my life is complete.”

He even threw out the first pitch at an Orioles game in 2016.


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