Delays are inevitable. In his screed earlier today, The Times-Picayune columnist Jeff Duncan claimed Phillies fans booed hand transplant recipient Matthew Scott when he threw out the first pitch at a game in 1999: In 1999, they booed Matthew Scott, the first person in the United States to receive a hand transplant, after he dribbled the ceremonial opening pitch at a Phillies game with his weakened new hand. SITTING ACROSS … Matthew Scott, who made history in 1999 as the world's most successful hand transplant recipient, receives an exam at Jewish Hospital in Louisville, KY, from Dr. Christina Kaufman, executive director of the Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery, during a … Matthew Scott says the years since he received a landmark hand transplant at Jewish Hospital in Louisville have been "nothing short of spectacular." The operation is extremely complex. “This surgery was the result of years of training, followed by months of planning and preparation by a remarkable team,” said Levin. In 1999, when Matthew Scott underwent his hand transplant surgery, experts said there was only a 50 percent chance of success. “The success of Penn’s first bilateral hand transplant on an adult, performed in 2011, gave us a foundation to adapt the intricate techniques and coordinated plans required to perform this type of complex procedure on a child.

NARRATOR: Before Matthew's life support is withdrawn, surgical teams and transplant recipients all over the country must be ready. Delays are inevitable.

A SECOND HAND, A SECOND CHANCE It took a 17-member surgical team about 15 hours to complete Matthew Scott's hand transplant, the first in the United States. Matthew Scott, a New Jersey paramedic who received a hand transplant, expressed his sense of loss and deprivation at not being able to hold his family, something his hand transplant helped to correct. Matthew Scott, the first person in the United States to receive a hand transplant, threw out the first ball Monday at the Philadelphia Phillies’ home opener against the Atlanta Braves.

Atlantic County paramedic Matthew Scott, the first recipient of a successful hand transplant, opened up the possibility that all body parts are replaceable.