Mississippi Firefighter Receives Most Extensive Face Transplant To Date

A NY hospital says a volunteer firefighter has received the most extensive face transplant ever performed.

He received a full scalp and face, including ears, nose, lips and upper and lower eyelids.

Dr Rodriguez told a press conference: “The amount of tissue transplanted in Patrick has not been done before”.

There were a number of issues during the procedure, such as Hardison’s jugular vein being bigger than Rodebaugh’s, causing risky blood loss.

Dr James Partridge, chief executive of British charity Changing Faces, said an altered appearance could be psychologically hard to adjust to.

“His surgery sets new standards in facial transplantation and will serve as an unbelievable learning tool”, said Rodriguez said in a statement “I am particularly encouraged with the success we have achieved in transplanting David’s eyelids and blinking mechanisms to Patrick”.

A MS firefighter who was disfigured while trying to save people from a house fire 14 years ago will get a second chance at a “normal” life, thanks to a new face from a tragic Brooklyn cyclist and a team of doctors in Manhattan. “Now we have proven that the technology, the ability to transplant the face has advanced, and it’s has advanced more than the science of immune suppression”, said Rodriguez.

In 2005, a French woman called Isabelle Dinoire – who had sustained severe facial injuries after being mauled by a dog – made history by becoming the first patient in the world to have a partial face transplant.

Since 1985, 28 face transplants have been performed worldwide.

Not only were the donor’s ears transplanted, but his ear canals were also used to ensure that Hardison’s new ears don’t just look great, they also work.

Hardison told NY magazine that he will spend the rest of his life in constant pain, but to have a face of his own, “I can live with the pain”.

Hardison’s journey to his new face was long and rigorous.

“I promise”, Hardison said.

The church member reached out to Rodriguez, who later moved to NYU.

Face transplants have been performed successfully before; in 2012, a team at the University of Maryland Medical Center replaced a gun attack victim’s face with that of an anonymous donor – including both jaws, teeth, and tongue. He died in a biking accident on August 12.

“To see the joy that he has on simple things we take for granted, such as hair growing on your chin, is unbelievable”, Firefighter Travis McDonald said. “I could see just a little bit”.

“They have given me more than a new face”, he said.