When surgeons offered Shreya Siddanagowder new hands a year after she lost her own in an accident, there was a potential complication. The donor hands matched her blood group, but not only were they much darker than her own skin, they were big, hairy and came from a man.
Hand transplants are rare though, partly because of a lack of donors, and despite the differences Ms Siddanagowda did not hesitate.
Now more than two years after the successful operation, doctors have been baffled by a transformation in the 21-year-old student's new hands, which have changed to match their new owner's arms. The transplanted hands have become dramatically lighter, hairless and more slender.
![Shreya's transplanted hands have changed dramatically since she received them in 2017. Photo / Facebook](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/KIDVRHS3U5ZU3E5GSG6E3WMNLY.jpg?auth=bdc0099704bac2f79c1249a9a225a0d9b6a812914e6efd66cbe4eae09677e431&width=16&height=17&quality=70&smart=true)
"I don't know how the transformation occurred," Ms Siddanagowder, from Pune in western India, told The Indian Express.