Plastic Surgeon Simon Talbot Completes Double Arm Transplant

Originally from Hamilton, Dr Simon Talbot, 38, a reconstructive plastic surgeon specialising in hand surgery, has led a team in a ground-breaking double arm transplant on a quadruple amputee at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Talbot, director of upper extremity transplantation at the Brigham, said 40-year-old Will Lautzenheiser’s nine-hour surgery went smoothly, and his recovery so far has been typical.

Talbot, who trained at the Auckland University School of Medicine, said Lautzenheiser was a good candidate for the surgery, in part because of his positive attitude and strong network of family and friends.

Talbot told the New Zealand Herald that seeing the life-changing effects of Lautzenheiser’s successful surgery has been hugely satisfying and rewarding.

“You really recognise you’re transforming a life dramatically.”

Talbot started out as a house surgeon at Tauranga Hospital before heading to New York in 2002 to further an interest in medical academic research at cancer hospital Memorial Sloan-Kettering.

He later began a plastic surgery training programme through Harvard University.

Original article by Liz Kowalczyk, Boston Globe, November 26, 2014.

Photo by Reuters/Brian Snyder.