They transplanted both arms and filmed a documentary for his incredible recovery.

The US Navy John Peck was 24 years old when he lost his arms and legs after walking on an explosive in Afghanistan in 2010. He spent two months in a state of semi-unconsciousness because of powerful drugs and woke up in a hospital in his country.

"I could feel the blanket on me, but I could not move a single part of my body. My mother had to tell me that I had lost my arms and legs because I still felt them, "recalls Peck. During his hospitalization, he contracted a bacterium that extended to the hip and part of the abdominal muscle.

In his life, things collapsed: at that moment, he ended up with his marriage of 18 months.After these bad experiences, he fell into a depression and even thought about committing suicide.

For months, Peck remained depressed until the day he saw a triple amputee with his wife and granddaughter. This made him understand that all was not lost. "If he could, I could too," he says. He put all his energy into rehabilitation, resumed therapy and learned to use prostheses.

When he had more confidence in him and felt ready to fall in love, he signed up to an online dating site. It's there that he met his current wife, Jessica Parker. Precisely this relation was the one who pushed him to look for alternatives to recover his limbs. Her greatest desire was to hold the hand of her future fiancée on the day of her marriage.

After studying the different treatment options, a transplant specialist was contacted at a Boston hospital and, after months of badessments, has been put on a waiting list.

Jessica and John had been together for five months when he received the call that he was waiting for: a donor had been found and the double-arm graft could materialize.

Although determined to continue the operation, Jessica did not think it was a priority. "It's not that I did not support it, but I did not think it was worth taking the risk because he could have died in surgery. I did not think it was worth dying for it, "admitted the woman.

This is how John underwent a double-arm transplant in 2016 and became the second military to undergo this operation in the United States. The intervention lasted 16 hours and consisted of joining the bones to metal plates, then connecting the arteries and veins, repairing the muscles and tendons and connecting the nerves to the donated arms. After this hard experience, a television channel was inspired by its history to make a documentary about his incredible recovery.

After the intervention, Peck had to deal with months hard daily workout gain strength in the arms and hands. Their relationship was also put to the test since Jessica had to do everything for him for weeks: to accompany him to the bathroom until he scratched his nose.

It was almost a year before he could brush his teeth. Currently, still struggling to hold a bottle, open a container or prepare a hamburger. "People think that you are joining your hands and that, bang, you recover your fingers and that your arms work as before, this is not the case," explained the Navy.

John's nerves they grow two and a half centimeters a monthand it still remains to reach the entire length of the arm. As time pbades, the sensation in your extremities increases. However, he can already drive, dress, cook and is sufficiently autonomous to be able to stay alone for a few days.

The prospect of a new amputation is something that scares John. Despite the daily improvements, it is still possible that your body rejects your arms and is forced to take pills to suppress your immune system and prevent it from attacking your new members.

His experience has helped him write a book, which is not yet finished, and he plans to become an expert motivational coach. "I think my toughest battles have been defeated and won. Accepting the fact that I was a quadruple amputee, accepting what happened, undergoing an arm graft and finding love were the four most difficult battles. The rest is a walk for me, "he said.