Merk receives world's first double arm transplant

Karl Merk, the world's only transplant recipient of two full arms, gives a press conference at the teaching hospital of the Technical University in Munich, southern Germany. Merk talked about the success of the procedure, calling the feeling of being whole again "indescribable".(AFP Photo)

Karl Merk, the world's only transplant recipient of two full arms, gives a press conference at the teaching hospital of the Technical University in Munich, southern Germany. Merk talked about the success of the procedure, calling the feeling of being whole again "indescribable".(AFP Photo)

Karl Merk, the world's only transplant recipient of two full arms, gives a press conference at the teaching hospital of the Technical University in Munich, southern Germany. Merk talked about the success of the procedure, calling the feeling of being whole again "indescribable".(AFP Photo)

Karl Merk, the world's only transplant recipient of two full arms, gives a press conference at the teaching hospital of the Technical University in Munich, southern Germany. Merk talked about the success of the procedure, calling the feeling of being whole again "indescribable".(AFP Photo)

Karl Merk, center, and his surgeons Christoph Hoehnke, right, and Edgar Biemer, left, attend a news conference in Munich, southern Germany on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008. Farmer Merk who received the world's first complete double arm transplant is recovering well and able to perform some basic tasks, though doctors said Wednesday it still could take up to two-years until he re-learns how to use his hands. Doctors spent 15 hours on July 25-26 grafting the donor arms onto the body of 54-year-old Karl Merk, who lost his own just below the shoulder in a farm accident involving a combine six years ago.