Second-hand limb rejected

Mr Hallam now wants the hand removed

Two years ago New Zealander Clint Hallam made medical history when the hand of a dead motorcyclist was transplanted onto his body.

Today, Mr Hallam, aged 50, wants that hand to be history - he is begging surgeons to cut it off, saying he feels "mentally detached" from it.

If this is what I'm going to have for the rest of my life, I'd rather not have it

Clint Hallam

Surgeon Nadey Hakim, who performed the operation in France in 1998, has said he would consider taking the arm off again.

But he pointed out that Mr Hallam, a controversial character with a criminal record, had been a poor patient and not followed the correct course of drugs to prevent his body rejecting the hand.

Unsightly

Mr Hallam, who lost his original right hand in an accident with a circular saw 16 years ago, says he feels "more handicapped than before".

He says he can do little with the attached hand because the tendons on it have fused together.

Other hand transplants have since been performed

In an interview with The Times in London, he said he often kept the hand hidden because it is so unsightly.

The transplanted hand is wider and longer than his own, the flesh a different colour and the skin flaky.

"As it began to be rejected, I realised that it wasn't my hand after all.

"If this is what I'm going to have for the rest of my life, I'd rather not have it."

Mr Hallam has reportedly been unable to afford the costly drug regimen.

He has complained that the drugs have side-effects that include diabetes, chronic diarrhoea and a weakened immune system.

We gave him the chance of a lifetime and he ruined it

Dr Nadey Hakim

A British doctor interviewed by The Times said Mr Hallam had been a bad choice for a patient, with his fecklessness and financial difficulties.

"We gave him the chance of a lifetime and he ruined it," said Dr Nadey Hakim, from St Mary's Hospital in London.

"We thought he was a rich businessman but actually he is unemployed with a criminal record."