Canavero has been widely condemned for his 'reckless' ambition

But 30-year-old admits he 'can't even imagine what exactly can go wrong'

The man volunteering to be the guinea pig for pioneering head transplant surgery is flying to America this week to meet for the first time the doctor intending to give him a new body.

Russian Valery Spiridonov will appear at a major medical conference in Annapolis with Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero, who hopes to convince the medical establishment that his techniques are on the brink of viability.

But he prepared to fly to New York today, one of Moscow's top surgeons branded the £9.8million ($15million) head transplant plan 'reckless', claiming the medic - who has been labelled Dr Frankenstein by critics - is nowhere near being ready to undertake such a complex operation.

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Journey: Valery Spiridonov, pictured at Moscow airport on Wednesday, is flying the New York to finally meet the man who may one day cut his head off and reattach it to another person's body

Trapped: The 30-year-old, pictured here aged seven in Russia with his mother, left and father, far right, suffers from a muscle wasting disease, which means he has been confined to a wheelchair for much of his life

Groundbreaking?: Controversial surgeon Sergio Canavero announced his plans earlier this year - horrifying many in the medical world, and earning him the nickname Dr Frankenstein

Spiridonov, a 30-year-old sufferer of Werdnig-Hoffman disease, has publicly volunteered to be first patient, saying he is aware of the risks.

He told MailOnline: 'I am flying to New York and then will go to Annapolis to take part in the scientific conference with the surgeon Sergio Canavero.

'We will be together on stage. It will be a joint presentation. I will speak for myself.

'I do hope that my trip and my participation in this conference will help to push the idea of this surgery, to persuade the medical world and to make sure we have support from the scientific community.'

Spiridonov, seen as a child in new pictures released to Mailonline, will tell the gathering that he hopes his head will be transplanted onto a physically fit body within two years. Such surgery would be a medical sensation.

'I am not in a hurry to be operated on, but if all goes according to our plan, the surgery will take place in two years from now, sometime in 2017,' he said.

'The place of the surgery will very much depend on how this conference goes. Preferably, the operation would be done in the USA.'

Animal testing: In 1970 Dr Robert White transplanted the head of one monkey onto the body of another, as shown in this diagram. If Spiridonov's head were to be successfully transplanted his jugular vein and spinal cords would have to be similarly fused with those of his new donor body

Severely physically handicapped, Spiridonov received worldwide coverage when he volunteered as a guinea pig for the operation.

His disease means he suffers severe muscle weakness, which can result in problems moving, eating, breathing and swallowing, according to NHS Choices.

Most people with Werdnig-Hoffman, also known as spinal muscular atrophy, die within the first few years of life, but Spiridonov is among the 10 per cent who survive into adulthood.

The muscle-wasting means he is confined to a wheelchair. If he were to undergo a head transplant, it would mean he would be free of the chair for the first time in his adult life.

Even so, he insisted: 'I am not rushing to go under the surgeon's knife, I am not shouting - come and save me here and now.

'Yes, I do have a disease which often leads to death, but my first role in this project is not that of a patient.

'First of all, I am a scientist, I am an engineer, and I am keen to persuade people - medical professionals - that such operation is necessary.

'I am not going crazy here and rushing to cut off my head, believe me.

'The surgery will take place only when all believe that the success is 99 per cent possible.'

Spridinov says he main task now it to get support from Canavero from the wider medical community, so he cold improve over the next two years.

'This is what this date was set up for - to give some time for extra experiments, including experiments with animals and dead human bodies, so this is the plan,' said Spiridov, whose arrival in Italy for the 39th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopaedic Surgeons (AANOS) will mark his first trip from Russia to the West.

I am not going crazy here and rushing to cut off my head, believe me. The surgery will take place only when all believe that the success is 99 per cent possible Valery Spiridonov

But it will also be his first meeting with Canavero, whose controversial plans have raised eyebrows in the medical community.

'I am not going to discuss whether I may like or dislike him,' Spiridonov said. 'We have our shared interests, similar goals, and we are going to achieve them in this or that way.

'At the moment we are involved in huge joint project and we are going to work on it and make it come true and real.

'It is not a question of trust here. We must do our best to make it happen.'

Spiridonov may be positive, but others are more worried. Leading Russian surgeon, Anzor Khubutia, director of the Moscow-based Sklifosovsky emergency hospital, warned that Canavero's plans were 'reckless'.

'This may be real in the future,' said Khubutia. 'But it's hard to talk about head transplantation before spine regeneration becomes possible.'

And the Russian Health Ministry's chief transplant expert Sergei Gotye warned: 'I have no answer to the question of how to make the transplanted head control the donor body. And I am not sure Canavero has either.'

Indeed, his plans seem so unbelievable there has even been speculation that it may be an elaborate hoax.

Video game enthusiasts have suggested Canavero's ambitions and the plot of the fifth installment of the hit game Metal Gear Solid.

Not least is his uncanny resemblance between Canavero and a medic who appears in a trailer for the game.

But the neuro-surgeon has dismissed the claims - as has Spiridonov, who told MailOnline: 'This is just nonsense.

'Dr Canavero and I are not playing games with the concepts of life and health.

'It is not right even to imagine such things.'

Support: Spiridonov, pictured aged 16 with his mother Viktoriya, is hoping his appearance at a conference this week will help convince people of the need for the experimental operation

In fact, the two are expecting countries to be won over and queue up to allow Canavero to conduct the surgery.

'You should understand that it's not simply a medical procedure. This surgery has a political meaning,' the doctor said.

'The Soviet Union was the first one to send Yuri Gagarin to space, America was the first on the Moon. The country that hosts head transplant surgery for the first time will become a leader like this.'

He vowed to confound the doubters and doom-mongers at the Annapolis conference.

'I'll prove it is totally possible to all the sceptics there,' he said.

Explaining his planned technique in April, he said it would take him less than an hour to put Spiridonov's head on the body of a donor body, but the entire surgery could go on all day and night.

'Valery's head will be cooled to 10-15 degrees Celsius,' he said.

I know what I'm for and am prepared for it. I already have an entire army of enemies. But even I fail with the project, it'll be a lot easier for those who carry on after me Sergio Canavero

'That is done in cases of surgery on deep areas of brain.

'We will have an hour to 'switch' the head to a different body.

'You need a few minutes to join blood vessels.

'Valery's head will be detached from his body and transferred to another one in a matter of seconds, and brain's blood flow will start in about 15 minutes.'

However 'the joining process may take up to 18-24 hours,' he said. 'Doctors will be taking turns not to get tired.'

He added: 'I will be explaining all the technical peculiarities on June 12 in Annapolis at an international neurosurgeons' conference.'

Canavero is also not worried about the outside world's perception of himself - in particular, the nickname Frankenstein.

'I am prepared for any nicknames, because it sounds cool and will help to sell more newspapers,' he said.

'But I am very conservative when it comes to funding.

'When Bill Gates or Dmitry Itskov (a Russian millionaire supporting the research in artificial intelligence) fund my project, I'll come to the cameras with the receipt and say, this person supported my initiative.'

He went on: 'I know what I'm for and am prepared for it. I already have an entire army of enemies.

'But even I fail with the project, it'll be a lot easier for those who carry on after me.'

He admitted that 'the final goal is immortality' and brushed aside objections from churches.

One day he expected aged tycoons to buy head transplants onto much younger bodies.

Competition: Canavero is not the only doctor looking at whether a head transplant is possible: China's Dr Xiaoping Ren has released pictures of some of the 1,000 mice he has given head transplants

While the surgeon and Spiridonov have not met face to face previously, they have been in constant contact on the internet.

Spiridonov has vowed: 'My decision is final and I do not plan to change my mind.

'Am I afraid? Yes, of course I am. But it is not just very scary, but also very interesting. '

He stressed: 'I do understand the risks of such surgery. They are multiple. We can't even imagine what exactly can go wrong.

'I'm afraid that I wouldn't live long enough to see it happen to someone else.

'If I want this kind of surgery to happen, I shouldn't put the responsibility onto someone else but should try it on myself.