Double Arm Transplant For Severe Burn Victim

A Mexican man whose arms were severely burned in an electrical accident has become the first patient in Latin America to receive a double arm transplant.

Gabriel Granados, whose arms were amputated just below the elbow, received the limbs of a 34-year-old shooting victim.

The father-of-two told a news conference that the transplant was "terrific" and that he had begun to feel his new hands.

"This is wonderful that after being without hands for some time, all of a sudden I see new hands," he said.

Mr Granados, 52, injured his arms in January 2011, after he received an electrical shock while giving instructions to a group of construction workers building a fence.

The surgery was performed by Dr Martin Iglesias, head of the surgical team at the National Institute of Medical Science and Nutrition (INCMN), in Mexico City, in early May.

Mr Granados, who is an agent in the financial unit of Mexico City's prosecutors' office, was discharged from hospital on Thursday.

Doctors said he had recovered well.

"This is a very special day for Mexico from a scientific point of view," said Dr Fernando Gabilondo, director of INCMN.

Before the surgery, doctors said they practiced the procedure on corpses.