[Sharon]

Patrick before and after transplantation

A firefighter aged 41 years who was completely disfigured in 2001 was submitted to the broadest face transplant and more complex practiced so far - said a medical center in New York on Monday.
More than 100 doctors, nurses and technicians took part in the 26-hour surgery - held in mid-August at NYU Langone Medical Center.

The patient was Patrick Hardison, of Senatobia, Mississippi (southern US), who suffered severe facial wounds while working as a volunteer firefighter just a few days before the September 11 attacks.

Hardison was severely disfigured when the roof of a burning house fell on him during a rescue mission. Lost his eyelids, ears, lips, most of the nose, hair and eyebrows.


He received the face of David Rodebaugh, who died in an accident

Eduardo Rodriguez, head of the plastic surgery department, led the operation after a year of preparations, said the medical center.

Surgery gave Hardison a new face, scalp, ears, ear canals and some portions of the jaw bones, cheeks and nose.

He also received new eyelids and muscles that control blinking. Before Hardison could not close his eyes completely.

Hardison underwent more than 70 surgeries. Face transplants have become increasingly frequent in recent years.


Photos show the complex surgeries underwent

In March, a Spanish hospital said it had successfully carried out what was then called the most complex facial transplant: the reconstruction of the lower part of the face, chin, mouth, tongue and throat of an anonymous man horribly disfigured by disease .

The University Hospital Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona reported that the operation reconstructed two-thirds of the 45 year-old man's face.

In 2010, the same hospital carried out a face transplant on a man who had an accident that left him with a deformed nose, jaw and cheekbones.

The first partial face transplant in the world was practiced by French doctors in 2005 after a woman was attacked by a dog.

[kellyhound]

They did a pretty good job on his face

[redlipstick]

I saw this in the newspaper today, minus the before pic, thanks! Great post

[nstonerider76]

OMG! That is completely amazing,medicine and technology has come so far these days. It seems like the eyes of the patient is the last to heal,but everything else seemed to take well without rejection or infection. Its good that he can try to live a somewhat normal life now,and bless the young mans family who allowed this brave man to receive a part of him.

[mrfuzzybagels]

looks like piggsy from manhunt

[vagabond]

Fantastic! So cool of his family to let them use his face- I imagine some wouldn't.

[Kerri]

Hmmmm. Still has a tracheotomy tube in place. Handsome SOB before the firey kaboom. Looks like he took a bb or had the zit from hell center of forehead. That new face took care of that! This is truly miraculous stuff but it would be a bit creepy to have your face walking around long after the rest of your body is enjoying the long dirt nap.

[sancatz22]

Kinda creepy

[Samara]

I wonder if the trach is a precaution because they don't want to put anything on or around his face that might irritate or abrade his new skin. I wish we could see what he looks like now.

I read the other day that a guy got a penile transplant from a beating-heart donor, and how grateful he was that the family consented to such a strange request. I believe the idea behind this surgery was to restore urinary function, and see if anything could be done to eventually help male veterans who arrive home with major pelvic injuries.

So dudes, tell your family if a doctor deems your dick the perfect match for some other guy, help a brother out and donate it. You can't take it with you, and instead of it rotting or burning off, it can continue to piss and bone in perpetuity.

[LifeFlightRN]

The worst thing I ever witnessed was the LODD death of Firefighter Kevin Reveal who was killed instantly when a 2 story brick wall collapsed on top of him as he was fighting a fire in a vacant building in Hurst, IL on Sept. 29, 1996... There are no gory pics of Kevin... But I can attest to the fact that his face and head were so obliterated...all that was left to do was for me to pronounce him dead at the scene... The following is a link to his memorial page...

http://www.angelfire.com/on2/kevinreveal/