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A patient has volunteered to become the first person in the world to undergo a complete head transplant.

Valery Spiridonov, 30, says he is prepared to be operated on by surgeon Dr Sergio Canavero who claims he can remove a head and attach it to a healthy body.

Russian computer scientist Mr Spiridonov, 30, who suffers a potentially deadly rare genetic disorder called Werdnig-Hoffman disease, said: “My decision is final and I do not plan to change my mind.

(Image: East2West)

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

“But you have to understand that I don’t really have many choices.

"If I don’t try this chance my fate will be very sad. With every year my state is getting worse.”

(Image: East2West)

Italian Dr Canavero today told CNN he has part of the funding secured, although he said he cannot yet disclose where the money is coming from as a condition of the funding.

He has identified Mr Spiridonov as the first patient.

Dr Canavero and Mr Spiridonov have talked via Skype but have not yet met and the doctor has not reviewed his medical records.

(Image: East2West)

The surgeon said he has received many emails and letters from people seeking the procedure. Dr Canavero has named the procedure HEAVEN, an acronym for head anastomosis venture.

Anastomosis involves the surgical connecting of two parts. The new body would come from a transplant donor who is brain dead but otherwise healthy.

He will present his plans at the annual conference of the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopedic Surgeons (AANOS) in June. He aims to perform the transplant in 2017.

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AANOS said they are not endorsing him, only giving the surgeon a platform to hear what he has to say.

Dr Canavero said: “I say two years is the time needed for the team to reach perfect synchronization.”

He estimates a team of 150 doctors and nurses will be needed for what is estimated to be a 36-hour surgery.

(Image: YouTube / TED)

The first monkey head transplant was performed 45 years ago in 1970.

The monkey died after eight days, because the body rejected the new head.

Before the monkey died, it was unable to move because the spinal cord of the head and body were not sufficiently connected.

The monkey could also not breathe on its own.

Dr Canavero said he will use a “magic ingredient” as a sealant to fuse the human spinal cords back together.

Arthur Caplan, director of medical ethics at New York University’s Langone Medical Centre, has described Dr Canavero as “nuts”.

He said the bodies of head transplant patients “would end up being overwhelmed with different pathways and chemistry than they are used to and they’d go crazy.”

He added: “It’s not like you can unscrew your head and put it on someone else.”

Dr Hunt Batjer, president elect of the American Association for Neurological Surgeons, added: “I would not wish this on anyone.

“I would not allow anyone to do it to me as there are a lot of things worse than death.”