John Peck’s Journey(NEW YORK) — A retired U.S. Marine who became a quadruple amputee after being wounded in combat and last year had a double transplant celebrated the new year a little early by wiggling his fingers to show his progress.
A new video posted on Dec. 28 captures the moment when Sgt. John Peck, 31, was able to move his fingers by slightly bending them. Peck said he enjoyed exhibiting more control of his new limbs.
“It was great,” Peck told ABC News Monday. “I started doing happy tears because I realized I’m one step closer to becoming a chef.”
When Peck spoke publicly for the first time about his transplant in October, he said he hoped that he could someday reach his goal of becoming a chef.
Peck lost both of his legs and part of his right arm when he stepped on an explosive device while serving in Afghanistan in 2010.
The blast also damaged his left arm, which was ultimately amputated, along with giving him third-degree burns on his stomach.
Three years earlier, he was injured in Iraq when his vehicle was hit by an IED, yet he still returned to active duty.
Peck got his two new arms in a transplant operation in August at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and has since been undergoing intensive physical therapy to help him gain function in the new limbs. Rehabilitation is key in arm transplants since nerves grow extremely slowly, making the limbs difficult to control initially.
Over the last few months Peck said he’s been facing issues with infection and even had to be hospitalized again after a bad reaction. He said that the movement was a nice reminder of why he has been going through all this hard work.
“We’ve been living out of a suitcase for the last five months,” Peck pointed out, saying he’s ready to get back home to Virginia.
Dr. David Crandell, the amputee program medical director at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Network in Boston, said at the time that Peck’s skills and drive as a Marine were evident in his rehabilitation efforts.
Peck brought “an intensity to all his therapy, which is clearly evident,” Crandell said.
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