Army Sgt. Brendan Marrocco, a 26-year-old from Staten Island, New York, lost four limbs in an explosion while serving overseas.
These photos were taken in July before the surgery, with Brendan sporting a prosthetic arm.
Brendan found out late last year he would be eligible for a complex marathon surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
On Dec. 18, Brendan underwent a 13-hour double-arm transplant, only the seventh such procedure in U.S. history.
Brendan documented the long and arduous process on Instagram: "About a week after surgery. Was very swollen. Badass #scars"
"3 plates about 20 screws and about 4 feet of new scars and I have arms again."
There have only been 60 patients around the world who have received arm transplants.
Something Brendan no doubt appreciates, as evidenced by this tweet from earlier in January.
