After double-hand transplant ...
Man grasps college, church & future W
By David Wenner
hen members of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Harrisburg, Pa., think about giving, the possibilities include not only money or time
but organs. Extraordinary events put organ donation at the
forefront of their thoughts. One of their members, Chris Pollock, is the second person in the U.S. to get a double- hand transplant, and the first to receive one including a forearm and elbow. Another member, Steve Turner, gave a kidney to a stranger, setting off a chain in which four people received transplants. Good Shepherd recently held an event to celebrate
the transplant anniversaries and reflect on the possi- bilities surrounding organ donation. Asked about the “coincidences” that led to it, their pastor, Kathy Baker, offered a simple explanation: “In the church, we call it God’s work.”
But back to Pollock Pollock was helping a friend harvest corn the day aſter Tanksgiving in 2008. He spent the day on a tractor pulling an ancient corn picker that deposited the har- vest in a wagon. Near evening he hopped down to check the wagon.
Noticing cornstalks caught in a chute, he reached out. A chain caught his sleeve and pulled his hand into the
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www.thelutheran.org
Chris Pollock (above, left), assisting minister at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Harrisburg, Pa., offers the chalice during communion (photo at right).
machine. Pollock reflexively reached with the other. It, too, became caught. He knew immediately his hands were lost. Alone for 30 minutes until help arrived, he wanted to die. Pollock was given hooklike prosthetics that enabled
DAN GLEITER/PENNLIVE
DAN GLEITER/PENNLIVE
him to drive. Eventually he read a magazine story about the first U.S. double-hand transplant, which took place at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. In early 2010, Pollock received his transplant at the
center during an 11-hour operation involving three teams totaling about 30 people. Te transplant landed him on Good Morning America and drew reporters from Europe. For the first seven months aſter his transplant, Pol-
lock did therapy six hours a day, five days a week. He went four days a week for several years aſter that. Terapy is intense and recovery takes years. Dis-
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