'Hero' who lost hands in attack given world's first double transplant on non-white patient

Doctors in India have carried out what is believed to be the world's first double hand transplant to be performed on a non-white patient.

The operation was carried out on 30-year-old Manu, who lost both his hands when he was thrown from a moving train by a gang of thugs as he tried to step in to stop them harassing a female passenger.

Hailing Manu as a hero, the pioneering surgery was paid for by Indian charity Mata Amritanandamayi Math

Manu testing his new hand

Manu was given the hands of a 24-year-old killed during a road accident. The operation, which involved 20 highly skilled surgeons, took 16 hours over January 12 and 13 - and, a fortnight later, Manu's body has accepted the new limbs, and he is gaining use.

Doctors at the Amrita Institute of Medical Science, in the southern India state of Kerala, say the feeling in the hands will increase over the next few months.

The aftermath of the surgery is being closely monitored by health experts across the world.

Not only is it a first for India, which had never hosted a double hand transplant before, it is the first such surgery to be carried out on a non-white person.