Quadruple amputee from flesh eating bacteria during childbirth to receive U.S.' first double-arm transplant

A mother who lost all four limbs to a flesh eating bacteria after giving birth is preparing to become the first person in America to have a double arm transplant.



Katy Hayes has been told she is suitable to undergo the rare operation at a hospital in Boston.



The 43-year-old would be the first person in America to undergo the complicated surgery and only the second person in the world to have two new arms.

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Hope: Katy Hayes, a mother of three, smiles thinking of her plans to become the first person in America to receive a double arm transplant after suffering a flesh-eating bacteria

Hayes said the operation had given her renewed hope two years after doctors were forced to carry out the quadruple amputation to save her life.

'Before I was kind of dependent, laying there, not seeing really the kind of light at the end of the tunnel,' Hayes told WFAA.

'And now I've got that light, and I'm just charging ahead. Because it's within my reach. It's going to happen.'



Hayes touched the heart of the nation in 2010 when it was revealed she had contracted a flesh eating bacteria while giving birth to daughter Arielle.

New life: Two years after her amputation in 2010, Mrs Hayes, pictured with her husband, has little independent ability, relying on others to take care of her

Struggle: Despite fitted with limbs that help her walk on her own, her struggle has been beyond difficult and she at first wondered if it was worth it, before remembering her family

Surgeons in Houston, Texas, had no choice but to amputate her arms and legs to save her life.



After returning home Hayes, a massage therapist, struggled to come to terms with the loss of her limbs.



She was fitted with prosthetic arms allowing her to hold her baby daughter for the first time.



Hayes learned to cope with her new life with the help of her two other children, a 16 year old daughter and eight year old son.

Decision: It was after delivering her third child, a baby girl, that Mrs Hayes woke to find her husband had made the life-saving decision to have doctors amputate her limbs

Fund raising: Recently told she's suitable for the operation, friends and family are raising $200,000 to cover the living expenses and other costs needed for the transplant this summer

Joy: Her daughter Arielle is seen dancing beside her mom on stage, another excitement for the mother who looks forward to being able to hold and touch her family once again

But now friends and family are raising $200,000 to cover the living expenses and other costs needed when Katy undergoes the double arm transplant in the summer.



The operation will be carried out at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.



Katy told WFAA TV that she was looking forward to the simple things with the arm transplant.



Brushing my teeth; washing my face; wiping my own butt,' Hayes said. 'You know — things that everyone takes for granted.'



Taken for granted: Mrs Hayes says it's the simplest actions during one's day she looks forward to retaining again, abilities most take for granted

Her husband, Al, said he is also dreaming of the smaller things.



'I think about things like feeling her arms around me, or feeling her touch my hair,' he said. 'I'm looking forward to her rediscovering the joy in simple touch.'



Katy has been told she is a candidate for the double transplant as surgeons in Dallas left behind a significant amount of muscles and tendons when they carried out their operation two years ago.



Her husband said he is looking forward to showing off his wife with her new arms to those who doubted that she would survive.

Little faith: Pictured holding one of her first two children, doctors originally tried to amputate her from her shoulders down not believing she'd ever qualify for an arm transplant

Satisfaction: Her husband pictured beside her in 2010 says after the transplant he looks forward to his wife returning to those who said she'd die to 'flip them the bird' with her new hands

He said: 'So we can go back to every doctor who said she was going to die, and every doctor that said we have to cut her off at the shoulders, because there's no way they're going to be able to do arm transplants, and we're just going to let her flip them off.



'And I bet you that most of them will be grateful that she can show up and do it.'



A 54-year-old man in Germany was the world’s first recipient of a double arm transplant in 2008.



Surgeons at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston carried out the first full face transplant in America last year.



Dallas Wiens, a 25-year-old construction worker from Texas, suffered horrific facial injuries when he was burned by a live cable.

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