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Last updated on Monday, October 24, 2016
(JEFFERSONVILLE) - A Jeffersonville resident who lost extremities after tornadoes ravaged Henryville in 2012 has become the first woman to receive a successful hand transplant in Kentucky.
Health officials announced Wednesday that 69-year-old Louella Aker is recovering well from her double hand transplant, which occurred Sept. 17 during 17-hour operation at Jewish Hospital in Louisville.
Aker was diagnosed with a blood infection in 2012 after helping clean up Henryville, where tornadoes hit in March of that year. Doctors amputated both Aker's legs below the knee, her left forearm and part of her right hand.
Aker is taking medication to prevent her body from rejecting the transplants. She'll do rehabilitation at the Frazier Rehab Institute after being transferred from the hospital.
Aker says she's extremely grateful to the donor family, who she hasn't met.
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