Mexican father Gabriel Granados given double arm transplant

Gabriel Granados said the transplant was 'terrific' and that he had begun to feel his new hands (AP)

A Mexican man whose arms were severely burned in an electrical accident has become the first patient in Latin America to receive a double arm transplant.

Gabriel Granados, a 52-year-old father of two whose arms were amputated just below the elbow, received the arms of a 34-year-old shooting victim, said Dr Martin Iglesias, head of the surgical team that performed the operation.

Mr Granados said the transplant was "terrific" and that he had begun to feel his new hands.

"This is wonderful that after being without hands for some time, all of a sudden I see new hands," said Mr Granados, an agent in the financial unit of Mexico City's prosecutors' office.

The surgery was in early May, but Mr Granados was discharged from the hospital last night. Doctors said he has recovered well.

Mr Granados' arms were amputated after they were badly burned in January 2011, when he received an electrical shock while giving instructions to a group of construction workers building a fence.

Before the surgery, doctors say they practised the procedure on corpses.

"This is a very special day for Mexico from a scientific point of view," said Dr Fernando Gabilondo, director of Mexico City's National Institute of Medical Science and Nutrition Salvador Zubiran, where the surgery took place.

Mexican doctors say there are other 23 patients waiting for arms transplant although only six could be done successfully.