A large portrait of an energetic young man hangs in the consulting room of Wei Fu-chan (魏福全), dean of Chang Kung University's College of Medicine.
However, few people know that the artist who created this pencil sketch is a young man in his 20s with only five fingers, and that those fingers had actually been his toes, which Wei had transplanted after the young man lost his fingers in an accident.
Wei is one of 13 people who were honored with the Tien Te Lee award yesterday. He is one of two recipients of the award for extraordinary medical technology achievement.
Although Wei refused to disclose the name of the young man out of respect for his desire to remain anonymous, he briefed the media on his patient’s long road to recovery.
The boy’s family owns a factory, where his fingers were severed by a machine. By the time he met Wei, the five-year-old boy had only finger joints left. Wei eventually persuaded the boy’s parents to allow their child to undergo the toe-finger transplant surgery.
He took the boy’s big toe on the left foot and the second and third toes on the right foot and turned them into a thumb, index finger and middle finger on the boy’s right hand.
Then the second and third toes on the boy’s left foot became the thumb and middle finger on the boy’s left hand.
The rebuilding process required three big operations, each of which was a 12-hour ordeal, Wei said.
The most challenging part of the surgery was that it had to be conducted through a microscope.
Before the surgery, the boy had trouble performing simple tasks like picking up a glass of water and even going to the bathroom by himself.
After the surgery, however, the boy could not only perform these tasks without much difficulty, but was even able to go bowling.
The case of the five-year-old boy is one of many success stories Wei has seen in his more than 30 years as a surgeon.
In the past two decades, the toe-transplant technique has helped about 1,600 patients regain the use of their hands.
While he was a visiting scholar in London, Wei helped a 16-year-old boy fulfill his dream of being able to play music by using one of his toes to replace a middle finger.
Wei said a person’s own body is the best supplier to replace missing parts. Besides the toe-finger transplant procedure, Wei is also an expert in using vascularized fibular osteoseptocutaneous flaps to treat segmental femoral defects.
“To me, the award means recognition as a scientist, not just a physician,” he said.
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