NorCal woman gets successful hand transplant

What's it like having a hand after not having one for five years?

A California single mother says it's simply "surreal." Emily Fennell is the first hand-transplant recipient on the West Coast. UCLA transplant surgeons call her a pioneer.

A one-handed hug is all Emily Fennel's 6-year-old daughter has ever known.

"I had my accident when she was only 14 months old, so she's never known me with two hands," said Fennel.

As the 26-year-old mother tells her story, along with the UCLA Hand Transplantation Team, her slight finger movements seem completely natural.

"I can't actually feel it yet," said Fennell. "I won't have sensation for close to a year, but right now it almost seems surreal that I didn't have a hand for those five years."

In June 2006, she was a passenger in a rollover car accident. Her dominant right hand went through a sunroof and was severed. She was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where surgeons had to amputate.

Five years later, she's there for a different kind of surgery. The 14-hour transplant operation began at midnight on March 4. The precious gift came from a deceased donor in San Diego. She is the 13th successful hand transplant case in the U.S.