Teen cleared for bilateral hand transplant after good Class XII results

Chennai: A day after a strong Class XII performance, Keerthi Verma, met health minister Ma Subramanian and a panel of doctors to discuss his desire for a bilateral hand transplant. Subramaniam then announced that the boy who lost both hands to electrocution at age four would be placed on the transplant waitlist at Govt Stanley Medical College and Hospital and the govt will also ensure he gets into an engineering college."The chief minister promised me a hand transplant two years ago when I cleared my Class X. I want to get that done now," Varma told reporters. In 2023, Gleneagles HealthCity doctors advised him to wait until he turned 18. On Friday, doctors suggested prostheses, including those imported, as transplants involve risk and require lifelong medication for immune suppression, besides aggressive physiotherapy to restore hand movements. But Verma refused. "I don't want a prosthesis. I want a pair of hands that will be mine," he said, and his mother Kasthuri nodded.Praising Verma for his Class XII 78.5% score (471 of 600), Subramaniam said the family agreed to a transplant surgery at Stanley Hospital which has performed successful hand transplants since 2018. "There are only two hospitals in TN performing the procedure now. We told them we wouldn't mind if he wanted to go to a private hospital for the transplant. The CM's health insurance would have covered it, but the family agreed to do it at Stanley."Since 2018, eight people in TN underwent hand transplant, involving connecting bones, blood vessels, nerves, tendons, muscles, and skin from a deceased donor's hand(s) to the recipient's forearm. "We have 26 people on the waiting list. Verma's name will be added to it at Stanley today. He will be admitted to the hospital for observation and tests and discharged later to return to his home in Krishnagiri."A logistical challenge exists due to the limited six-hour window for organ retrieval and transplant once a brain-dead patient's family consents to donation. "It has been decided that Verma will relocate to Chennai. As he plans to pursue engineering, arrangements have been made for him to find a suitable college near Chennai and reside in a hostel for four years," Subramanian said. Anandam Youth Foundation, an NGO led by S Selvakumar, will cover his college fees.