‘All the hail must go to donor’, says Delhi doctor involved in ‘miracle’ hand transplant surgery

A Delhi painter who had lost both his hands in a train accident received a new set of limbs after organ donation by a city educationist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

The team of doctors who performed the ‘miracle’ surgery is being hailed on social media as ‘god-sent angels’. However, one of the doctors involved in the operation believes that it’s not primarily the team of medical professionals but the donor who donated her organs that should receive the public’s applause.

“We were doing the procedure as per scientific protocol. All the hail should go to the donor who had given the limbs. There are a lot of organ recipients in the world right now. But there are few donors,” Dr Swaroop Singh Gambhir, senior cosmetic and plastic surgeon consultant at Sir Gangaram Hospital, who was part of the complex operation, told WION on March 10, 2024.

“Every encouragement must go to the donor, to her relative. That they came forward,” Dr Gambhir added.

In October 2020, Raj Kumar, now 45, was crossing the railway tracks in Nangloi on his bicycle when he lost control. Kumar was then reportedly run over by the train losing both his hands. He had been using prosthetics but his prosthetic trial was unsuccessful.