Russian man, Valery Spiridonov, agrees to ‘head transplant’ to overcome rare disease
A man who suffers from a rare muscle wasting disease is to become the first person in the world to have a “head transplant” – with his head being transplanted onto the body of a donor.
Valery Spiridonov suffers from the rare genetic Werdnig-Hoffman disease and will attempt the “pioneering operation” because he feels that he has “no other choice.”
Spiridonov has admitted that the prospect of going through with the operation, scheduled for 2017, is terrifying. “I am afraid,” he said. “But what people don’t understand is that I don’t really have many choices…If I don’t try this out my fate will be very sad. With every year my situation is getting worse.”
Spiridonov stated that he was prepared to sacrifice his life for science in the hope that enough would be learned to help future full body transplant patients.
Italian Dr Sergio Canavero will be the first surgeon in the world to transplant a human head onto a donor body.
Earlier this year, Canavero outlined the transplant technique he intends to follow in the journal Surgical Neurology International, and said he planned to launch the project at the annual conference of the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopaedic Surgeons (AANOS) in the US in June, where he will invite other researchers to join him in his head transplant project.
The Independent coverage included this video on the topic:
