41-year-old Firefighter Receives Most Complete Face Transplant In History

A 41-year-old firefighter named Patrick Hardison received an incredible face transplant. In September 2001 he suffered severe burns across his face while saving a woman from a fire in Mississippi.

The surgery took place on August 15th. It was a process that  lasted 26 hours, with the participation of more than 100 professionals, including  doctors, nurses, technicians and support staff. All directed by the physician Eduardo D. Rodriguez.

So, after having successfully passed one of the recovery periods, the news was known around the world because of the significance it has for medicine.

The history of the face transplant…

In 2001, Patrick Hardison, a volunteer firefighter from New York, suffered severe third-degree burns to a large part of his face after entering a burning building to search for a woman thought to have been trapped in a fire.

The roof of the place collapsed and fell on top of Hardison. This caused serious injuries that for some time left him on the verge of death.

Later it was discovered that the woman had never been in danger because on the day of the fire she was fishing.

So, thanks to that, this firefighter had to undergo 70 previous surgeries. Furthermore, these did not give the expected results when  carried out four months ago.

Thanks to Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez and his team, Patrick received the largest facial transplant in history. Successfully done in terms of the amount of tissue transferred.

Thus, the surgery, valued  at one million dollars, included the transplantation of:

• Scalp.
• Ears and their ear canals.
• Chin bone pieces.
• Cheeks.
• Full nose.
• New eyelids and muscles that control blinking. After all, before Patrick was unable to close his eyes completely.

Rodriguez, chief surgeon, highlighted:

It’s been more than 90 days since the procedure and Patrick has evolved very well. After presenting himself before the world with his new face, this hero expressed:

The donor…

This procedure, which was prepared for more than a year,  would not have been possible without donor David Rodebaugh,  a 26-year-old artist who was brain dead after a tragic bicycle accident in Brooklyn.

In addition, the transplant was made possible thanks to the timely intervention of the non-profit organization LiveOnNY. It is dedicated to seeking out organ and tissue donors in the New York metropolitan area.

They were the ones who contacted Rodebaugh’s family to donate their organs, including the face.

As the person in charge of this surgery explains, the wait for the transplant took a long time because it was necessary to find a perfect donor,  not only with the same blood type, but also the same skin and hair color, as well as a similar facial bone structure.

The reasons mentioned above, in addition to the high cost, explain why many patients who are waiting for this same surgery will not be able to receive it.

Harrison’s surgery could be done thanks to the economic investments received by a research grant from the NYU Langone Medical Center, and it is hoped that in the future similar procedures can be performed at this hospital.

Finally, since 2005, when the first face transplant was performed in France, more than two dozen people have undergone this type of surgery  worldwide. Unfortunately, there were five patients who failed to survive.