Pat Hardison, 41, a former firefighter from Tennessee, lost most of his face when his fireman’s mask melted to it during a blaze in a mobile home in 2001.
He said his disfigured features made his three young children, Alison, six, Dalton, three and Averi, two, were terrified of him and he despaired of ever living a normal life again. But now Hardison has been given a new face – and new hope – thanks to the riskiest face transplant ever performed.
The father of five had the face of 26-year-old David Rodebaugh grafted on to what remained of his own features in August this year after the young man died in a cycling crash.
The surgery was so perilous that Hardison was told he had only a 50 per cent chance of surviving it. More than 100 doctors, nurses, technical and support staff took part in the 26-hour operation, conducted in mid-August at the NYU Langone Medical Center.
Recalling the incident, he told ABC that he and 3 other firegfighers had gone into a building to save a lady. But the ceiling collapsed around him.
He jumped out through the window, pulled the mask off, held his breath and closed his eyes, which doctors say saved his sight and prevented smoke from damaging his throat and lungs.
The former firefighter spent 63 days in hospital and was given the semblance of a face with flesh taken from his thighs. He had lost his ears, lips, most of his nose and virtually all of his eyelid tissue. Because of this, he was unable to see properly.
Even though he had two more children, Braden and Cullen after the accident, the impact of his accident put a huge strain on his family life and after ten years of marriage, he and his wife Chrissi divorced.
Now, he is glad and says he feels like every normal guy.
The post [PHOTOS] Fire Fighter Who Lost His Face Gets A “New Face” After World’s Riskiest Face Transplant appeared first on KokoFeed - Nigerian News For The Young Generation.
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