I’m waiting for a double hand transplant and turned down replacements from a man – here’s why
A WOMAN waiting for a double hand transplant was asked if she would accept replacements from a man.
Kim Smith, 61, was also asked if she would be happy with a black woman’s hands.
The former hairdresser, who lost her hands and feet to sepsis, said: “I had to think about it — I’m desperate for hands, but would I?
“No. I don’t want to look down at my hands and they don’t look like mine. I would want to reject them.
“I said the same about a black person’s hands. I’m not prejudiced but I’m white.
“I want a white person’s hands so they blend in with my skin tone as much as possible.”
Kim was quizzed during a psychological assessment at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the only place in Britain to carry out the complex ten-hour operation.
She said: “It’s just to see whether you’re mentally suitable to have the transplant. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you would get men’s hands or hands from a black person.”
Plastic surgeon Prof Simon Kay said: “We make sure the recipient receives hands they can accept and live with.
“We all vary enormously to the degree we will accept variations from our own natural appearance.
“If the transplanted hands are not accepted by the recipient, there is great potential for psychological rejection leading to non-compliance with medication and eventually therefore to immunological rejection.
“To avoid this as far as possible, we ask each recipient to tell us very candidly what they will and will not accept.
“We specifically ask about characteristics such as hand size, appearance of age, gender. We also ask about skin colour, not in terms of race but in terms of skin tone.”
Kim, of Milton Keynes, developed sepsis and lost her limbs after getting a urinary tract infection while on holiday in Spain in 2017.
Husband Steve, 64, has now promised her new wedding and engagement rings when she gets her new hands.
Kim is also anxious to move into a wheelchair-friendly flat or bungalow.
Milton Keynes council said: “We’re actively searching for an acceptable property to which we can make further adaptations.”