Man receives new hand in 13-hour operation

A US man has become only the third person to have a hand transplant.

He lost his left hand four years ago when a firework he was holding exploded.

He received a new hand in a 13-hour operation involving 18 surgeons and five anaesthetists at Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky.

Jerry Fisher, a 36-year-old gutter installer from Michigan, is the second person in the United States to have a hand transplant.

Hospital president Douglas Shawsaid: "He left the operating room in good condition. He was alert and joking with members of the surgical team."

Mr Fisher is likely to stay in hospital for up to 10 days and remain in the Louisville area for therapy for the next three months.

The donor hand came from a man who was declared brain dead. Mr Fisher will have to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his life.

The first hand transplant was carried out in France in 1998.