A man with a fatal medical condition has spoken exclusively to MailOnline about how he is set to become the first person to
undergo a head transplant and hopes it could be as soon as next year.
Valery Spiridonov says he is ready to put his trust in controversial surgeon, Dr Sergio Canavero who claims he can cut off
his head and attach it to a healthy body. Mr Spiridonov, 30, a computer scientist from Russia, said: 'My decision is final
and I do not plan to change my mind.' As a lifelong sufferer of the rare genetic Werdnig-Hoffman muscle wasting disease,
he says he wants the chance of a new body before he dies.
'Am I afraid? Yes, of course I am. But it is not just very scary, but also very interesting,' said Mr Spiridonov from his home
in Vladimir, a city 120 miles east of Moscow. 'But you have to understand that I don't really have many choices', he said.
'If I don't try this chance my fate will be very sad. With every year my state is getting worse.' Dr Canavero and Mr
Spiridonov have talked via Skype though they have not met yet and the doctor has not reviewed his medical records.
The Italian told CNN he has received many email and letters from people seeking the procedure but he insists the first
patients will be people suffering from a muscle wasting disease. Dr Canavero has named the procedure HEAVEN, which is
an acronym for head anastomosis venture. Anastomosis involves the surgical connecting of two parts. He insists all the
necessary techniques already exist to transplant a head onto a donor body. The first monkey head transplant was
performed 45 years ago and a basic operation on a mouse was carried out in China recently.
But critics say Dr Canavero's plans are 'pure fantasy'. The Italian has been compared to the fictional gothic-horror
character Dr Frankenstein.
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