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Luka Krizanac was 12 when parts of his arms and legs were amputated following a life-threatening infectionNearly 17 years later, in 2024, he traveled to Philadelphia to undergo a double hand transplant at Penn MedicineNow 29, Krizanac can do tasks that were “impossible” before the transplant, saying that he feels “whole again”
A 29-year-old man has successfully undergone a double hand transplant, a procedure hospital staff are referring to as a “medical marvel six years in the making.”
Luka Krizanac — from Zurich, Switzerland — was 12 years old when a major infection that was treated incorrectly led to multi-organ failure and severe sepsis. In order to save his life, doctors had to amputate parts of his arms and legs.
Over the years, he relied on prosthetic legs that “served him well.” However, he often struggled with his prosthetic hands, which were unable to replicate the movements of a real hand.
“People usually struggle to understand how much they do with their hands. And I don’t mean just practical stuff, but basically surviving as humans, even in today’s modern world,” Krizanac told Penn Medicine. “As much as you try to build the comfort and confidence without hands … you’re always with someone assisting you. As much as you love them, as much as you care about them, you never have the chance to do it on your own, which ties into the fact that you’re also not able to fully develop as a person.”
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Luka Krizanac with Dr. Scott Levin.
University of Pennsylvania
In 2016, Krizanac was connected with Dr. L. Scott Levin, surgeon and director of Penn Medicine’s hand transplant program, and Dr. Benjamin Chang, the program’s co-director, to discuss undergoing a double hand transplant.
From that point, Levin and Chang built a team of surgeons, residents, fellows, and nurses to prepare for and rehearse the extensive double transplant. The team even worked through COVID-related setbacks so that they would be prepared when the time came.
In fall 2024, Krizanac flew to Philadelphia to await a donor. Doctors explained that the process would be difficult because, in addition to matching blood and tissue type, they also needed to match for gender, skin color and tone, and size.
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Luka Krizanac.
University of Pennsylvania
Krizanac was notified after eight weeks on the waiting list that a donor was available through the Gift of Life Donor Program.
“It’s the most human gesture that I ever saw in life, that someone is helping you beyond their life,” he said. “And I don’t know how to express that in words, that gratitude.”
So, nearly 17 years after his amputation, Krizanac received the gift of new hands in a 10-hour surgery. The bilateral hand transplant marked the first surgery of its kind at Penn Medicine since 2019. The hospital called it a “medical marvel.”
“We know in that operating room, we will be having a life-changing impact on someone’s life, and we all keep that in mind as we perform each careful step or stitch each suture over the course of ten hours,” Levin said.
Krizanac, who works for a global bank, is now back in Switzerland recovering. After six months, he is able to do tasks that were “impossible” before the transplant, including typing on his iPhone, picking up food to eat, holding a cup and resting his head in his hands.
Luka Krizanac in therapy following his hand transplant.
University of Pennsylvania
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Doctors said his nerves are healing well and he’s starting to gain sensation in his new hands, which Krizanac calls “mind blowing.” He will continue several hours of physical therapy each week for the next two to three years.
Reflecting on his journey, Krizanac told CNN that when anesthesia was wearing off after surgery, he looked at the nurses at his bedside and said, “Look how beautiful my hands are.” Although he doesn’t remember that moment, which was later recounted to him by the nurse, he said his feelings remain the same.
“This was a miracle in itself, just seeing them,” he said. “I don’t mean that just in an aesthetic way, but just a deep feeling of being whole again as a human.”
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