Woman amputee was asked if she would accept pair of men's hands

Kim Smith, 61, politely declined the offer but was warned she would face a longer wait for a transplant if she insisted on having a pair of hands from a white woman.

The former hairdresser lost both her hands and feet after a urinary tract infection led to sepsis and nine weeks in a coma following a 2017 holiday to Spain.

Kim revealed that she was asked whether she would accept a pair of men's hands or those with a different skin tone during a psychological assessment in West Yorkshire.

She said: “I was asked if I would [accept different hands] during the psychology talk.

“It was in June 2021 at Leeds Hospital as they’re the only hospital in the country that does hand transplants.

“It’s just to see whether you’re mentally suitable to have the transplant – they're the type of questions they put at you, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you would get men's hands or hands from a black person."

She added: "I had to think about it- I'm desperate for hands, but would I?

"No. I don't want to look down at my hands and they don't look like mine, I would want to reject them.

"I want them to be small hands. Before the amputations I was five foot two inches tall.

"I had petite hands so the hands should try and match the size as well."

Kim added: "I said the same about a black person's hands.

"I'm not prejudiced but I'm white - I want a white person's hands so they blend in with my skin tone as much as possible."

Kim is now anxiously awaiting a phone call to tell her that a donor has been found and the transplant can go ahead.

She also revealed how her husband Steve Smith, 64, had promised her a new wedding and engagement ring and a Pandora bracelet when she gets her new hands.

She added: "He's promised me the new rings- we'll probably go shopping once I get my hands.

"There's no point shopping without the hands- we don't know what size I'll be.

"I still wear my wedding and engagement ring on a chain around my neck but I'm holding him on his promise for new ones!"

The surgeon who will potentially carry out the procedure - which is funded by NHS England - at Leeds Teaching Hospital explained that a rigorous process was used to match suitable donors and recipients.

Professor Simon Kay explained that the patient had to been 'immunilogically compatible' with the donor limb so it would not be rejected.

The patient also had to accept the physical appearance of the limb or there was a risk that they would stop taking medication vital to it not being rejected.

He said: “One of the important things we do is make sure the recipient receives hands they can accept and live with.

“We all vary enormously to the degree we will accept variations from our own natural appearance.

“If the transplanted hands are not accepted by the recipient there is great potential for psychological rejection leading to non-compliance with immunosuppressive medication - and eventually therefore to immunological rejection.

“To avoid this as far as possible we ask each recipient to tell us very candidly what they will and will not accept. We specifically ask about characteristics such as hand size, appearance of age, gender.

“We also ask about skin colour, not in terms of race but in terms of skin tone."

Six years ago Kim, from Milton Keynes, became a quadruple amputee after an infection led to sepsis- causing her immune system to overreact and damage tissue in her limbs.

She has now become a candidate for the rare surgery in which surgeons will meticulously fuse every tendon and nerve of two donor hands to Kim's arms.

Not everyone is eligible to receive double hand transplant surger The two hands from the deceased donor will then be sewn onto Kim's arms at Leeds Hospital in Yorkshire, the only place in the UK to do the 10-hour procedure.

Then she will be able to "hold things and bend my fingers just like anyone else".

Last week Jamie Mines from Swindon, Wilts, spoke out a year after he received his own double hand transplant.

He said he is "finally able to hold his kid's hands again" though commented that he would have "preferred a younger person's hands."

However that's not all Kim is hoping for.

She is currently living in a non-wheelchair-friendly two-bed bungalow with only two spaces large enough for her to turn around in.

She is constantly knocking into the narrow doorframes and can't easily go into the bathroom or kitchen without doing a "ten-point turn" to turn around.

Having lived there for four years, Kim said she is "demoralised" by the lack of support from the council in trying to rehome her.

Kim blames an inappropriate Occupational Therapy (OT) assessment on why she was given the bungalow owned by Guinness Partnership housing association.

She said: "I was naive at the time, I didn't know anything about accessibility needs so trusted the Occupational Therapist to tell me if the house was accessible for me.

"I commented at the time that I thought the doors were a bit narrow but she said they were fine. Ever since then I've struggled in this house."

After demanding a new OT report a year ago, she is still waiting for the council to rehouse her and will still need the use of her wheelchair after her hand transplant.

She said: "I was offered another property which the surveyors said was wheelchair-accessible.

"I could see from the window it wasn't accessible. They said, 'we know you can't get through the front door but inside is accessible'.

I'm having to educate the council about this stuff- it's such a fight. It's mentally draining."

A Milton Keynes Council spokesman said: "We're actively searching for an acceptable property to which we can make further adaptations.

A spokesperson for NHS Blood and Transplant said: "Only one per cent of people die in circumstances where any form of organ donation is possible.

"When it comes to limb donation, the donor has to die within a certain proximity of the hospital and be a suitable match for one of the patients waiting for transplant.

"The best way everyone can help make more transplants possible is to register your support for organ donation generally on the NHS Organ Donor Register and speak with your friends and family about specific forms of donation.

"Families are more likely to support donation when they know it is what their loved one wanted.”