EON

Berlin – German farmer Karl Merk, 54,  spoke to press Wednesday as the first person to ever receive a double arm transplant.

“It was really overwhelming when I saw that I had arms again,” Merk told reporters at the Munich University Clinic.. “These are my arms, and I’m not giving them away again.”

The transplants were completed at the clinic of the Technical University of Munich, by a team of 40 specialists.

The operation lasted about 15 hours and was extremely complex, since they got together the tissues of the skin, muscles, veins, nerves and bones, according to the patient, have already started to recover sensitivity.

The arms were made available from a deceased donor.

Merk explained that he can perform some tasks by himself such as turning on the TV.

The head of the medical team, Christoph Höhnke, said he was “moderately optimistic” about whether Merk able to return to work as before the accident.

Nerves are growing at a rate of one millimeter per day and begins to notice some tingling sensation below the scars.

Doctors warn that they can not yet ruled out the risk of rejection, but consider that it comes down to each passing day.

Merk performs daily exercises and physiotherapy and recovery is also under psychological therapy in preventing the consequences which might suffer by having transplanted the arms of a “stranger”.

Doctors estimate that it will take up  to two years before they know how successful the transplants will be.