We were all delighted to hear the announcement that the renowned Micro Surgeon Professor Simon Kay has been awarded a well-deserved OBE in the the new year’s Honours for his contribution to complex reconstructive surgery and Hand Surgery in the UK. 

Professor Kay is a consultant plastic surgeon based at Leeds Teaching Hospital where he recently carried out the UK’s pioneering first double hand transplant whilst using Mercians Micro Vascular Instruments on a patient who had been involved in a work-related accident, and consequently lost both hands.

The total time of surgery was a challenging 7 hours, with both the surgeon and the instruments performing faultlessly to reconnect the nerves in the hands in order to achieve a successful double hand transplant, which in turn has transformed the life of the patient