From Mike Rogers
Your leader discussed the pros and cons of surgeons’ becoming skilled at transplanting parts of the body, with the recent case of Clint Hallam’s new arm in mind (Editorial, 3 October, p 3). As a left-leg amputee from the Second World War, I’ve often contemplated the day when a “new” flesh-and-blood leg could be fitted if desired. It seems that day has arrived.
Apart from all the techno-medical problems to be overcome, one aspect has always held me back from relishing such a possibility. If someone else’s leg was sewn on to my thigh stump and it worked, could I ever live with looking down and waggling Fred Bloggs’s toes as part of me? Physically it could be a dream come true after 54 years with a prosthesis— but mentally?
Maybe it’s my age. I’ve got thoroughly used to my carbon fibre limb, and I think I would decline any offer to have two living legs once more. That’s just limbs; as for the thought of having someone else’s face . . . no thanks!
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
