A Mississippi firefighter who had his scalp and entire face and ears burned off during a fire has been the recipient of the most successful face transplant surgery in history.
Mississippi firefighter Patrick Hardison is currently recovering well from an August surgery that was the most extensive and successful face transplant ever performed. Hardison literally had no face, as his head was fully engulfed in flames when he had been fighting a house fire.
Surgeons at New York University’s medical center did the surgery that lasted 26 hours. The surgeons had to replace the entire face as well as Hardison’s ears, full scalp, eyelids, his neck and some bone structures. The face and ears were donated by a bicycle messenger who was killed in an accident, reports The Los Angeles Times.
The operation has been declared a huge success and “historic” by the surgeons, as it has been 93 days since the surgery and there has been no sign of rejection. Hardison’s medications have been greatly reduced over that time, but it is likely the former firefighter will have to remain on anti-rejection drugs for the remainder of his life.
Hardison is the married father of four children. He suffered his disfigurement six day before 9/11 as the fire he was fighting in a Mississippi home got out of control and the roof collapsed on him. While he was under the burning debris, his face mask melted and burned away his face and scalp. The pain, he remembers, was indescribable. Every time he left the house prior to his surgeries, he had to disguise himself with a baseball hat, sunglasses, and fake ears. His two youngest children have no memory of what he looked like prior to the accident.
He recently told his doctors that it was nice to go outside with his wife and children and not be stared at. Despite the horrific injuries, Hardison has been doing well both physically and emotionally. His speech is still not where it should be but doctors say that in six months his speech will be back to normal.
This is only the second time a face transplant of this enormous complexity has ever been done. About 10 years ago such an extensive procedure was done on a patient in France. The patient died of complications following the surgery.
