Fireman face transplant revealed! See the photos here

Hardison was severely burned in a fire, and as a result lost most of his nose, eyelids, facial hair, and ears.

The donor has been named as David Rodebaugh, an artist and cycling enthusiast who was killed in an accident. Hardison was the recipient of a new face, due to a procedure that is being toted as the most expensive medical procedure of its kind to date.

The team led by Eduardo D Rodriguez from Hansjorg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery at the NY University Langone Medical Centre worked in two adjoining operating rooms.

Hardison was able to blink on the third day after surgery and sitting up in a chair within a week’s time, the Medical Center said.

Face transplants have become increasingly common since the first, partial face transplant was carried out by doctors in France in 2005 on a woman who had been mauled by her dog.

In the 26-hour operation involving 100 surgeons, the donor’s ears, ear canals, chin, cheeks, nose, eyelids and blinking mechanism were removed and attached to Patrick Hardison’s face. At the back, it reaches far enough down that only a tiny patch of Mr Hardison’s original hair remains – its colour matched by the dark blond hair growing on his new scalp.

Hardison was badly burned in a fire in 2001.

Hardison talked to NY Magazine about his disfigurement saying; “Kids ran screaming and crying when they saw me”.

The 41-year-old, who still works as a volunteer firefighter, met his ex-wife and five children again on October 8, a few nine weeks after the face transplant surgery. “We could not have helped Patrick without awesome teamwork”, Dr. Rodriguez says.

The good NYU hospital will also pay for the approximate $1 million fee of this elaborate surgery.

A year later, Rodebaugh was identified as a potential donor by LiveOnNY, the nonprofit organization that seeks transplant organs and tissue in the NY City area.

His mother gave permission to use his face, noting that Rodebaugh had always wanted to be a firefighter, said LiveOnNY president Helen Irving.

Rodriguez said Monday that while Hardison is racing down the road to recovery, he will ultimately be forced to remain on immune-suppressant medication for the rest of his life and will still need to return to the Big Apple for monthly checkups.

Proof of the procedure’s success was tested when hospital staff took Hardison to Macy’s to go shopping for new clothes and the shoppers didn’t take a second look or stare at him strangely.