A US veteran who was severely wounded in Afghanistan has received the world’s first total penis and scrotum transplant, doctors in Maryland announced Monday.

The former soldier, who wants to remain anonymous, is now recovering and should be released from the hospital later this week, according to physicians from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

A team of 11 specialists – nine plastic surgeons and two urological surgeons – performed the 14-hour procedure on March 26, transplanting the entire penis, scrotum and part of the abdominal wall from a deceased donor.

The veteran, who was wounded by an improvised explosive device, said he finally “felt more normal” after last month’s groundbreaking surgery.

“It’s a real mind-boggling injury to suffer, it is not an easy one to accept,” he said in a statement released by the hospital. “When I first woke up, I felt finally more normal … [with] a level of confidence as well. Confidence … like finally I’m OK now.”

W.P. Andrew Lee, professor and director of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Johns Hopkins, said it’s possible to reconstruct a penis using tissues from other parts of the body, but a prosthesis implant would then be needed to achieve an erection. Veterans like the man who received last month’s surgery also often don’t have enough viable tissues in other parts of their bodies, he said.

“We are hopeful that this transplant will help restore near-normal urinary and sexual functions for this young man,” Lee said.

As with any transplant surgery, tissue rejection is a concern for doctors, so the patient has been put on a series of immunosuppressive drugs to prevent that possible development, according to Johns Hopkins officials.

The deceased donor was also not identified, but the man’s family said in a statement obtained by USA Today that his relatives included a number of veterans.

“We are so thankful to say that our loved one would be proud and honored to know he provided such a special gift to you,” according to the statement by New England Donor Services, which set up the donation. “We hope you can return to better health very soon and we continue to wish you a speedy recovery.”

Richard Redett, an associate professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Johns Hopkins who led the transplant, told reporters during a news conference that the former sergeant did not receive the donor’s testicles to avoid potential ethical issues if he later had children.

The first penis transplant in the United States occurred in May 2016 at Massachusetts General Hospital, where patient Thomas Manning had a more limited procedure than last month’s operation after being diagnosed with penile cancer in 2012.

“I just can feel like movement and life in it already,” Manning said at the time. “I feel that we belong together.”

Manning’s condition continues to improve, although the hospital has not completed another penile transplant since his 15-hour operation, USA Today reports. Prior to Manning’s operation, two earlier successful penile transplants were completed in South Africa, with the first in 2015.