Last summer, little Zion Harvey became the world’s first child to undergo a bilateral, or double hand, transplant. On Tuesday night, in front of a packed crowd at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, nine-year-old Harvey got the chance to share his medical miracles with the world and threw out the first pitch of the night at a Baltimore Orioles game.
Zion Harvey underwent the bilateral hand transplant procedure at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia last summer pic.twitter.com/7cAtLtEGMB
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 3, 2016
But it was a long, grueling road to the pitcher’s mound at Oriole Park.
Last July, a surgical team of 40 at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia worked on Harvey for more than ten hours — connecting skin, nerves, bone, blood vessels, muscles, and tendons together to the then-eight-year-old’s body.
Harvey lost both of his hands and his feet when he was two years old.
“I don’t know what a child’s hand looks like,” Harvey said at the time. “Never give up on your dreams, it will come true.”
What’s more? The Baltimore Orioles, who are currently the number one seed in the American League East with an overall 60-45 record, went on to win the game.
Perhaps they had some extra luck from little Zion Harvey.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson.
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