Surgeons in London, ON. are preparing to perform a double-hand transplant on a man from British Columbia who lost all four limbs in a fight against sepsis and bacterial meningitis that nearly killed him five years ago.

Rick Thompson left work early one day because he felt like he was coming down with the flu. He tried to sleep off body shakes and the fever, but woke up a few hours later feeling parched.

"When I stood up, I could barely walk. My feet were on fire, they were just burning up. I made it downstairs to where my wife was watching TV, and the last thing I remember was collapsing on the ground," he said.

The Coquitlam, B.C. man woke up six weeks later in an intensive care unit.

Rick Thompson, who has been selected as a candidate for Canada’s first double hand transplant, is pictured in his apartment in Coquitlam, British Columbia on Thursday, February 27, 2020. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Although he defied the five per cent chance of survival given to him by doctors when he was rushed to hospital, the battle wasn't over yet. He and his wife were given a few hours to decide whether Thompson wanted to become a quadruple amputee, or if he wanted to die.

He picked life.

"If my family was strong enough to believe in me and not give up on me, how could I give up on them and take the easy way out?"

Life as a quadruple amputee

Thompson said doctors amputated both hands and both legs, below the knee, in one operation that lasted 8.5 hours. He's also had several reconstructive surgeries to his face because of necrosis that affected his upper lip and parts his nose.

"First thing I thought of, when I woke up and looked down and saw that I had no hands and no legs was 'I made the wrong decision.'"

He's come a long way since then.

"Right now I'm walking with the aid of my prosthetic legs," he said. "I go to the gym three days a week. I go on the treadmill, I lift weights, my wife and I are both on a keto diet."

The operation

Thompson says the double-hand transplant will be the first in Canada. He self-advocated for the procedure after reading about it online, and received support from his general practitioner and his family.

Eventually, he was able to connect with surgeons in London interested in performing the operation. He and his wife flew to meet with a team from University Hospital and St. Joseph's Hospital in October 2018, and Thompson was chosen as the candidate after a week of medical and psychological testing.

"The hands are right there, visible, every day," said Thompson. "You just have to get over the mental issue that they were actually on someone else's body and now they're on your body."

Rick Thompson, who has been selected as a candidate for Canada’s first double hand transplant, is pictured in his apartment in Coquitlam, British Columbia on Thursday, February 27, 2020. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Thompson and his wife are moving to London at the start of April. He said it could be months before a team of 14 surgeons are able to do the operation, because they'll be waiting for a donor match who is male, within 10 years of Thompson's age, and who has the same blood type.

The case against prosthetics

The hospitals are covering the cost of the procedure and rehabilitation with research dollars from private donors, said Thompson. He pegs it at about $100,000, which is less than what he would pay out of pocket for two advanced upper limb prosthetics.

One prosthetic hand could cost upwards of $120,000 said Thompson. It would have a one or two-year warranty, and would only give him about 20 to 25-per cent hand function.

The surgery, if successful, could give him more than 70-per cent function.

But for Thompson, it's not a matter of "if." It's a matter of "when."

"I'm just hopeful that after my surgery is successful, it'll open the door for other people to be able to receive this life-changing surgery as well."

As a father and a grandfather, Thompson said would consider the hands as a gift.

"It's a gift that someone's family has decided to give to you. You just have to accept that gift and you just do your best to make it work."