NORTON SHORES, MI - A 69-year-old woman is now able to hold, touch and feel with her new hands donated by a Norton Shores woman.

Michigan's Gift of Life helped Shayna Sturtevant, 21, became the first in the state to donate her hands to another person.

Sturtevant died Sept. 14 of a brain abscess caused by an ear infection, according to a news release. She was a registered organ, eye and tissue donor.

When Gift of Life approached Sturtevant's family and told them she was a match for a patient who needed hands, Sturtevant's mother, Debra Wyant, said the concept seemed strange at first.

But since Sturtevant has a son and wouldn't need her hands to hold him anymore, Wyant said she knew her daughter would want the transplant recipient to have that opportunity.

Sturtevant's parents granted the special permission necessary to go forward with the donation. She also donated her kidneys, lungs, pancreas and liver for transplants.

"Three families get to have their loved ones because of my baby," Wyant said.

Betsy Miner-Swartz, communications specialist for the agency, said Gift of Life works with transplant centers to try and match the potential recipient's hand size and skin tone with the donor's.

"There are lots of things that have to fall in place for this to happen," Miner-Swartz said.

The recovery procedure took place at Gift of Life's Ann Arbor surgical center. Privacy laws prevent Gift of Life sharing details about the recipient, but Wyant said she discovered an article about the woman who received the hands.

Louella Aker lost her hands to an infection she developed from cleaning up after a tornado in Henryville, Ind. in 2012, the Louisville, Ky., Courier Journal reported.

"It's as if Shayna picked her herself," Wyant said. "What woman could have deserved them more?"

Hand donation and transplantation is a relatively new procedure in the United States. Wyant said she had never heard of it before.

Transplantation is a long and complicated process that can take up to 12 hours to complete because it involves connecting skin, bone, muscles, blood vessels, nerves and connective tissue.

According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, only 30 people have received hand transplants in the U.S. since 1999. There have been 18 single-hand transplants and 12 double-hand transplants.

"This may not be 'life-saving' by definition, but if you can imagine life without your hands it must be incredibly life-altering," Dorrie Dils, CEO of Gift of Life, said in a statement. "We are extremely grateful that Shayna's family recognized this truly special gift. We hope they find comfort knowing she was a hero to others. And we wish for the continued recovery of all of Shayna's recipients."

Wyant said she hopes to eventually meet Aker and the other people who Sturtevant helped save. She is working on writing a letter to Aker that Gift of Life will forward to her.

"If I get a letter back, those were my daughter's hands that wrote that letter," Wyant said.

Wyant said she thinks everyone should sign up as a donor for the Gift of Life. If you would like to become a donor, visit the group's website.