In 2015, specialized team from three Philadelphia hospitals carried an 11-hour-long surgery at worked for 11 hours at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to provide new hands to Harvey’s arms. His mother, doctor and physical therapists joined him.
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The nation’s youngest hand transplant patient has been going through extensive rehab to learn how to use his new hands.
Zion, from Baltimore, had his hands and feet amputated seven years ago after suffering a serious bacterial infection.
Now, a year after the transplant surgery, NBC News returned to visit him to see what life is like for 9-year-old Zion.
In fact, last month he has thrown the first pitch at an Orioles game at Camden Yards.
“Zion is a pioneer”, said Dr. Abraham Shaked, a surgery professor at Penn Medicine’s Perelman School and the director of the Penn Transplant Institute, in a statement”. “I’ve never seen him not want to do his therapy”. “I’m still the same kid everybody knew without hands”. However, a football career might be a bit too much. He’s just a remarkable human being, let alone child or adult.
Zion said his wisdom comes ‘from the two most wonderful people: my mom, and my grandmom, ‘ warning his mom: ‘Don’t start tearing up’.
She told him they would discuss it later.
“My next goal: convince Mom to let me play football”, said Zion, pointing out he’d be playing against children, not professionals, to his protective mother.
Last year, Harvey had a transplant of both his hands and forearms in the first operation of it’s kind to have been performed on a child.
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A year later, at age nine, Zion is looking forward to his future, which looks to be a bright one. If he didn’t, we weren’t’.
