LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Matthew Scott lost his hand in a fireworks accident and was wearing a prosthetic hand.
On January 25, 1999, the Absecon, New Jersey native would make history as the world’s first successful hand transplant recipient.
“Right now, I can just open and close that prosthetic – that’s all I can do. When I get this transplant, I’ll get a wrist that will be able to flex,” Scott said.
Scott’s surgery lasted for nearly 14 and a half hours. Doctors from the University of Louisville, Jewish Hospital and the Kleinert-Kutz Hand Care Center propelled Louisville into the world-renowned recognition for pioneering hand care treatments.
Less than a week after the procedure, Scott was on his feet and in good spirits.
“[I feel] amazing well, far better than I thought I ever would after such a surgery – feeling energetic, feeling very upbeat about the graph,” he said.
At the time of his surgery, doctors told him it would be amazing if he got five years of use with his transplanted hand.
Scott’s positivity was infectious, doctors said that’s why he was selected for the experimental surgery.
The procedure marked the beginning of a new era in transplant surgery.
“That wrist is there and I’m able to open doors and manipulate things and glasses – all those things I wasn’t able to do before,” he said. “That wrist is one of the greatest things I’ve gotten.
Multiple hand transplants have been completed around the world since the historic first here in Louisville.
Scott's procedure is remarkable for multiple reasons – namely more than two decades later his transplanted hand is still functioning.
He returns to Louisville each year for studies and testing.
Scott says he's still amazed every day at what he can accomplish with his hand and he's sad that others don't have the opportunity that he does.
"And I know there's all kinds of barriers to getting this to be a standard of care. I just wish it was all these years later we're in a “experimental phase” and we need to move past that."
Since his successful surgery, he has become a spokesperson for the operation.
It’s something that traces back to 1999, when Louisville made history and Matthew Scott became a medical marvel.
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