science

Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson

Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson rather than just read about it. In short: Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson (born 1972) is a former electrician from Iceland who lost both arms while working on the job. At the age of 48, Guðmundur Felix received the world's first double-arm and shoulder transplant in a procedure led by Professor Jean-Michel Bubernard at the Edouard Herriot Hospital in Lyon, France.

Key takeaways

Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson (born 1972) is a former electrician from Iceland who lost both arms while working on the job. At the age of 48, Guðmundur Felix received the world's first double-arm and shoulder transplant in a procedure led by Professor Jean-Michel Bubernard at the Edouard Herriot Hospital in Lyon, France. The transplant was deemed successful and Guðmundur Felix gained mobility in the transplanted limbs. In April 2024, he announced his candidacy for the 2024 Icelandic presidential election.

Injury On January 12, 1998, Guðmundur Felix was working as an electrician in Reykjavík, Iceland. He was working on a set of powerlines when he grabbed one of the wires. 11,000 volts and 100 amperes jumped through his arms, burning them. He fell, breaking his back and neck. After being taken to the hospital, doctors deemed his arms too damaged to be saved. He underwent amputation on both arms followed by multiple surgeries over the next eleven months. In total, Guðmundur Felix underwent 54 surgeries in the first year.

Double-arm transplant and outcome

In 2007, Guðmundur Felix approached a French doctor giving a lecture at an Icelandic university. The doctor agreed to look into his case. Several years later in 2011, he was asked to come to France for further medical testing. The surgery was planned and Guðmundur Felix was placed on the donor list in September 2016. On January 13, 2021, Guðmundur Felix underwent the operation for a double-arm transplant, which lasted 15 hours. In an interview 18 months post-op on June 10, 2022, Guðmundur Felix appeared on Good Morning Britain to discuss the transplant and the aftermath. He reported having partial touch sensation throughout his entire arm. It was stated, shown, and demonstrated that he was able to lift light objects, hold hands, use a broom, hug, shake hands, shower and dress himself, and walk his dog.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson

In research: Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1972 births, 1998 in Iceland, 2021 in France, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson in simple terms?

Why does Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Guðmundur Felix Grétarsson.