Patrick Hardison (Photo : Facebook)
A New York plastic surgeon has performed the world's most extensive face transplant on a former firefighter who received the face of a 26-year-old man who became brain-dead after a bicycle accident during the past summer. The surgery in August has given the 41-year-old Tennessee man a new life after he was badly burned while serving as a first responder at a house fire in 2001.
The stories of the former firefighter Patrick Hardison and bike mechanic David Rodebaugh were detailed in a recent New York Magazine article. It was published on November 15, Sunday.
Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez performed the 26-hour surgery. Rodriguez is a plastic surgeon at New York University's Langone Medical Center.
Hardison's face was first reconstructed by transferring skin from his thighs. Before the Langone surgery he had undergone 71 operations and developed a painkiller addiction.
Hardison explained that before his face transplant children screamed and cried when they saw him. He described the experience as worse than dying.
Rodebaugh's face was in fact the third one offered to the ex-firefighter. The first one was withdrawn by the man's family, while Hardison rejected the second one from a woman.
New York Magazine describes the details of the day-long face transplant surgery. It was precise, risky, and tiring.
The marathon operation also included some drama. Hardison's jugular vein (sends blood from the head to the heart) was bigger than Rodebaugh's, so Rodriguez had to cut a small hole in the side of one vein.
Hardison is recovering from his face transplant surgery. He will have to take prescription drugs for the rest of his life, and within time his body would reject the new face, according to The Guardian.
The world's first full facial transplant was conducted on a Spanish farmer in 2010. He had shot himself in the face by accident.
Meanwhile, the first U.S. partial facial transplant took place in 2008. It involved a Cleveland woman whose husband had shot her.
Hardison's son shared that when he would first see his Dad's face, he wanted to memorize it. Then the next time he would know it is his father, according to New York Magazine.
