This is just amazing! Clay County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Freeman was attacked with an axe on Friday while attempting to serve a warrant, and his right hand was severed. A team of surgeons at UAB reattached his hand — and another unrelated patient’s hand — over the weekend.
It’s too soon to know how well the reattached hands will function, but there’s reason for optimism. Dr. Jorge de la Torre, part of the surgical team, says this:
“With any of these traumatic type injuries there’s always going to be some loss of function because at the very least, there’s some bone injury and arthritic changes in the wrist — if we’re talking about a case where it’s right at the level of the wrist,” de la Torre said.
“The wrist joint is fairly complicated joint and if you disrupt several of those bones, the chance that you are going to get full range of function at the wrist is unlikely. But the chance that somebody has a functional hand, that they can have sensation, feeling in the fingers and grasp and hold things, that’s something that you’re looking at (in) months.”
Best wishes to Deputy Freeman and the other unnamed patient, and kudos to the surgical team and the medical personnel who are providing after care. Good work!