Man with another man’s arms Soldier blown up by IED has double arm transplant

Marine John Peck suffered catastrophic injuries after an he triggered an IED losing all four limbs, but is getting his life back after having a double arm transplant

A Marine who underwent a double arm transplant has spoken of how the operation changed his life and of his fear that one day he may have to have his new limbs re-amputated.

John Peck, 33, of Bethesda, Washington, lost both legs and one arm after stepping on the pressure plate of an improvised explosive device (IED) in Afghanistan in May, 2010 and the remaining arm had to be removed soon after he arrived home after he contracted a flesh-eating fungus.

He fell into a depression and become secluded, shunning therapy and even devising a plan to end it all. But John managed to turn it around and in 2016 met wife Jessica, and was the recipient of a bilateral arm transplant.

Channel 5's The Man With Another Man's Arm, on tonight, documents John's unusual situation - he's only one of only six quadruple amputees to go under a bilateral arm transplant.

John's progress was a battle, but he pushed himself to his limits fueled by the promises he made the donor's family.

ohn first signed up to the Marines as a "step in the right direction to turning my life around".

He began training in 2005 and went on his first tour to Iraq in 2007, two years later he was sent to Afghanistan.    

Speaking in the documentary John said: "I decided to be the one up front doing the minesweeper, I picked it."

The group got to the last compound, which appeared to be deserted, and John headed in first.

There were two battery and loose wires, but no one around.

"We start to do a more thorough sweep, the next thing I know, I go to turn around with my right foot and I'm being blown through the air," John said. "They started to call out names and everyone is responding, they get to my name and they don't hear a response."

John had triggered a pressure plate for an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

"They see my right leg is amputated, my left leg, my right arm above the elbow and my left [arm] was what they call a de-gloving incident where the skin is pulled off the flesh."

John was put on a helicopter and he blacked out. He was medically sedated and only woke up two and a half months later unaware of his injuries. 

"My mum had to tell me that I had lost my arms and legs because I still felt them," he said.

Source: Mirror.co.uk