Moroccan surgeon successfully re-implants hand

A Moroccan surgeon in Casablanca succeeded in re-implanting the hand of a young man who had it cut off with a large knife during a bloody attack, medical sources said late Tuesday.

   The operation, conducted on March 15, took ten hours and is not the first of its kind in Morocco.

   The condition of the patient was very critical and required an urgent procedure, Dr. Ali Demoura told MAP.

   He said that the procedure seemed very difficult given the number of blood vessels, tendons, nerves and bones that had to be "put back in their places."

   The patient, Ali Ait Tagadir will recover a live vascular hand after an appropriate physical therapy prior to going back to work as a baker.

   Ali said he lost his hand on March 15 when an individual relieved him of his money and attacked him with a machete.

   "I owe a lot to police officers (…) who had carefully wrapped the severed hand before arriving at the clinic," said the 32 year old man.

MAP