John Peck dutifully and proudly served his country for many years as a Marine on the front lines.
In 2007, he suffered from a brain injury while in combat. Despite this setback, he insisted that he be returned to the front lines. After Peck’s insistence, his doctors relented.
But just three years later, in 2010, Peck stepped on a homemade explosive device in Afghanistan. He lost his legs and one arm, and later lost the second arm due to an infection.
Peck finally had no choice but to return home as a quadruple amputee and learn how to navigate his life with prosthetic limbs. Although there were no alternative options for him at the time, Peck hated his prosthetics and simply couldn’t imagine living with them for the rest of his life.
Four years later, Peck was contacted by his doctor.
If Peck passed an evaluation test, there was a chance his doctors would be able to perform a double hand transplant on him. Peck immediately asked to be brought in for evaluation.
Two long years passed. Then, Peck got the call.
“As soon as [my doctor] called me, I knew, and I just broke down,” Peck recalled. “I was crying because I was happy. But then my mind switched and it became… I mean, somebody died. I just want [the donor family] to know that this gift, it’s not going to go to waste at all.”
It took 14 hours for doctors to carefully attach the donor arms onto Peck’s arms, and the transplants are scarred and somewhat awkward to use – but the surgery was a massive success. Peck’s doctors believe that he will be able to achieve full use of his new arms and hands within nine to 12 months of physical therapy.
Peck is thrilled with the results of the surgery. “I loved [my arms] the minute I looked at them,” he said, “It was a perfect match. The skin color is a perfect match, the size – of course I had swelling but the size is a perfect match. Everything was just perfect.”
He recently spoke at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at a conference and plans to continue his new job as a motivational speaker – as he pursues his dreams of becoming a chef.
Of all the possibilities that await him now, though, Peck admits that he’s most excited about holding the hand of his fiancée.
Peck proposed in August, before his surgery, and looks forward to the day he can finally reach out and hold her hand once more.
You can watch a video of Peck’s journey here:
John Peck from BWH Public Affairs on Vimeo.
