Zion Harvey's Visit with Dr. Levin

If you follow the news at all, chances are that you've heard the name Zion Harvey. In the beginning of the summer, the eight-year-old made headlines around the world as the first pediatric patient to ever receive a bilateral hand transplant. The transplant team, which included nearly two dozen individuals between Penn Medicine and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, was led by our own L. Scott Levin, MD, FACS, chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery here at Penn Medicine.

Six weeks after he made history, Zion was finally ready to leave the hospital and complete his recovery down in his home city of Baltimore - but not before one last visit with Levin, who in conjunction with a few physical therapy specialists led Zion through a string of dexterity tests to see just how his new hands are coming along. Over the course of the 45-minute visit, Zion told Levin all about his plans for the future, which included doing what he can to help out others in similar situations and writing to the parents of the child whose hands he received.

He's a wonderful, brilliant child, and we are privileged to have been a part of his story. I was lucky enough to be taking photos of Zion's meeting with Levin, which you can find in a slideshow below.