Zion’s hands and feet were amputated when he was 3 years old, following a severe infection that caused his kidneys to fail, said his mother. He could even write, eat and play video games using his forearms, but with his new hands, doctors say he could even throw a football and use the monkey bars.

Surgeons in Philadelphia have performed a double-hand transplant on a boy believed to be the youngest patient to undergo the procedure. The boy, who showed up at the news conference on Tuesday with bandaged, but visible, hands, woke up smiling, Levin shares. “So if it didn’t go well I would have my family to go back on”.

The operation, which consisted of two donor hands being connected by blood vessels, nerves, muscles, tendons and skin, was a huge success. Zion was a suitable candidate because he was already taking antirejection drugs for his kidney transplant.

Zion’s first wish with his new hands? He now has physical therapy daily and will have to rely on immuno-suppressant medication for life to stop his body from rejecting the new hands.

“I want to say to you guys, thank you for helping me through this bumpy road”.

According to CBS News, the doctors started by connecting the bones in his arm with steel plates and screws, then used microvascular surgical techniques to connect veins and arteries.

Speaking before the surgery the 8-year-old said, “I wasn’t always like this, when I was two I had to get my hands cut off because I was sick”. He has received prosthetics for his feet and is able to run, jump, climb stairs and get around with full independence, Ray said.

There are only 15 children’s hands that become available annually, Levin said.

Leading up to the surgery – which took place earlier this month, but wasn’t revealed until this week – Zion had been as active as any other child of his age.

Zion’s mother Pattie Ray originally took him to Philadelphia in search for prosthetic hands, but they were introduced to surgeon L. Scott Levin that hoped he could give him more. The clinical team expects Zion to spend several more weeks in CHOP’s rehabilitation unit, and then to be discharged to his home in Baltimore, Md. “For us, this is really not just a technical exercise; it’s really trying to restore a better level of lifetime function for these patients”. For an eight year old, doctors look at the boy as an example of modesty, maturity, and strong will. After he has been in and out of hospitals for most of his life, it now seems like his life will change for the better.

Matt Rourke/AP Zion is seen waving ahead of his mother during a press conference on Tuesday at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.