Book will celebrate the work of hand surgeons

[PATIENTS WHO HAVE had their lives restored, or even saved, were among the honoured guests at the launch of a crowdfunding project to produce a book celebrating the work of hand surgeons and their inspirational patients. They joined their surgeons and other members of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH) at the event at the Royal College of Surgeons in London.

Hands Re:Worked is backed by celebrities such as JJ Chalmers and Cerys Matthews, who are both staunch supporters of the work of members of the BSSH.

As part of the BSSH charity project hand surgeons across the UK are appealing for other patients, their friends and their families to come forward to also star in the new book celebrating their inspiring stories.

Afghanistan veteran, Royal Marine and Invictus Games Gold Medalist J J Chalmers said: “I came very close to losing both my hands and thanks to the incredible work of my surgery team I have just about kept both of them. However, I have a level of function that quite frankly before my injury I would have taken for granted.

“I suppose that’s the thing that we all too often take for granted: just how important our hands are and just how we depend on them every single day to live – let alone to do the things that we love. And it’s not lost on me that it was the incredible work of the hands of my hand surgeon that led me to be able to rediscover my passions that I had before: whether it was as a sportsperson, a woodworker and now as a father.” One of the guests at the launch was Paul Kelly (pictured), a ‘miracle’ patient who cheated death when he fell into an industrial mixer and suffered horrific injuries to both his hands and legs. Paul lost his left hand around the wrist, the fingers and thumb from his right hand and his left leg below the knee. An operation to save and rebuild his life lasted over 22 hours, reattaching his left hand and the fingers from his right hand – and using the big toe from his left leg to construct a thumb for his right hand. All that was achieved at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester. Now he is working to raise awareness about the surgical skill and therapy that transformed his life. BSSH president and consultant hand surgeon Sue Fullilove, who works at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, said: “There has never been a better time to highlight the fascinating good news stories that come out of our operating theatres. We are shining a spotlight on the life-enhancing work our surgeons do on a daily basis all around the country and how we are now, even in these uncertain times, working harder than ever to make sure our patients get the treatment that they need and deserve.” q