After transplantation

“Can you imagine life without hands?”

The three hand transplant recipients Theo Kelz, Vasyly Rohovyy and Bernhard Schwung want to contribute to patient networking.(Bild: Birbaumer Johanna)

It's complicated, costs a lot and is rarely done: a hand transplant. Three patients met in Innsbruck on Wednesday. They talk about their experiences - and why they opted for a transplant, which is by no means uncriticized.

A bomb tore off his hands in 1994. The former police officer was one of the victims of the right-wing extremist serial killer Franz Fuchs. For someone else, the attack might not only have taken away his hands, but also his hope and strength. But not Theo Kelz. He fought tenaciously for a hand transplant, which finally became a reality in March 2000. The doctors operated for 17 hours.

After my hand transplant, I was able to travel the whole world on my motorcycle! It was worth it.

Theo Kelz

Bild: Birbaumer Johanna

Only 120 people worldwide
He was the first person in Austria to have a hand transplant and the second in the world. There are not many: to date, around 120 people have had this operation. It is not cheap: it costs between 35,000 and one million euros. And there are also critics who wonder whether a non-vital organ justifies the lifelong use of immunosuppressants. But what is vital?

"I'm one of those people who couldn't accept the fact that my hands were missing," says Vasyly Rohovyy, another hand transplant patient.

The feeling of a complete body is important, I think. I couldn't accept it any other way.

Vasyly Rohovyy

Bild: Birbaumer Johanna

"Prostheses cannot replace hands"
A transplant doesn't work equally well for everyone. The alternative would be a prosthesis. "But that feels different. You don't feel anything, no warmth. For me, it was really the only solution, I couldn't accept the loss. Otherwise I wouldn't have studied, maybe I wouldn't have married my wife." It is important to him that patients can network with each other.

"Prostheses can't replace hands. Can you imagine living without hands?" Kelz asks back. His message: "If people have a vision, they should realize that vision. Because that's how it started for me too: With the vision of my hands."

Info: https://worldofvca.com