Patrick Hardison received severe damage as a result of a fire in the house when he tried to save a woman who was considered in a fire.

This bold man received third degree burns on his whole face and scalp – for many years he went in public places in a baseball cap, sunglasses and with prostheted ears.

Patrick told how the children ran away when he saw him, but his life changed again in 2015, when he was undergoing a large -scale operation to transplant a face in history.

According to reports, Patrick’s chances for survival during this operation were 50/50. However, the operation, for which two teams of more than 100 people worked and which lasted 26 hours, was successful. Today Patrick Hardison lives with his beloved wife and children.

That’s all you need to know about this incredible story – and what Patrick looks like today.

Today we have so much knowledge about the human body. Doctors, nurses, surgeons and everyone who is associated with medicine are real heroes who do everything possible to help people recover. Moreover, it is amazing that modern medicine can save life: look, for example, at surgeons that can replace the heart or kidney.

Patrick Hardison – face transplant

Thanks to the modern knowledge of experts, it is now possible to completely change the face of a person who needs it. Personal transplant operations have been carried out since 2005, when Isabelle Dinoir became the first person to be done. In 2015, another very special operation to transplant the face in the United States took place when Patrick Hardison became the first American to go through this procedure.

Like any loving father, Patrick visited the sports events of his children and loved to spend time with his family. Working as a fan-fucked volunteer, he always tried to help his community.

But once, in 2001, the life of Patrick and his family changed forever.

Terrible injuries in fire

Patrick was called to a fire in the house where a terrible incident occurred.

Patrick was in a burning house when he fell on top.

«[Моя маска] I melted right on my face, ”Patrick said. “My fire hose was already molten.”

He managed to get out of the window, but his head and the upper body were already covered with fire, and Patrick received terrifying damage.

“For a person who is doing what we do by profession, I have never seen someone who was so burned, and at the same time remained alive,” recalled his friend and rescuer Jimmy Neil after the incident.

The father received burns of the third degree on the whole face and scalp. In addition, he received burns on his head, neck and upper chest. The fire also destroyed his ears, lips, most of the fabric of the eyelids and almost the entire nose.

“I actually did not see myself, probably November. I was injured in September, ”said Patrick Fox News. “They cut out a small hole on one of the centuries, since everything was covered with a skin transplant. I looked in the mirror, and everything that I thought: ‘Like that? This is all that I have left? ‘

New life after face transplant

Patrick expected a new life. He was conducted by 71 operations and several other procedures, but he still could not normally express emotions with his face. Patrick could not eat or laugh without pain, and he couldn’t even blink or close his eyes.

Doctors eventually were able to sew skin shreds to protect his vision. But he was still in jeopardy to gradually lose his vision.

Over time, Patrick became increasingly difficult to accept his appearance. Even being next to their children – or even to be alone – turned into a real nightmare. People pointed to him, and the children were scared.

Patrick Hardison always wore a baseball cap and sunglasses, as well as specially designed prostheses that replace his ears.

“I have children. It was a very difficult time. I did not receive a day of rest from this pain. When you go out into the street, you have to constantly face it. And, you know, it’s so difficult to describe everything in words, ”he said.

“When you go to the sports field, you need to be prepared for the fact that the child will run, scream and run away.”

For many years, Patrick suffered from pain and from constant close attention of passers -by. He lost hope of a normal life and began to think that his ugly appearance would be his curse forever.

But over time, doctors have developed new methods for facial transplant operations. Finally, in 2005, Isabelle Dinoir became the first person to be transplanted. Patrick, however, almost lost hope of the help that he so desperately demanded.

Then once a friend stumbled upon Dr. Eduardo D. Rodriguez, who worked at the Nyu Langone medical center in New York. Dr. Rodriguez already had experience in conducting facial transplants, and the search for a donor for Patrick began.

After a year of searching, Patrick left only two potential donors. The first turned out to be good compatibility, but with an inappropriate profile composition of fabrics.

The second candidate looked promising, but the family of this person canceled the possibility of donation.

Patrick was already preparing to come to terms with the fact that a face transplant could not take place for him. And here, as if from nowhere, another potential donor appeared. The non-profit organization Liveonny, which coordinates the donation of organs in the New York area, found a coincidence. The face belonged to David Rodebo, a 26-year-old man who received a massive head injury as a result of an accident on a bicycle and was declared clinically dead.

After the death of David, his mother, Nancy Millar, decided to give the donation of organs, including the liver, heart and kidneys. Moreover, she also decided to sacrifice her son’s face.

“I said: ‘You must save his face. He has a porcelain doll’s face. ‘ And he was a donor – we talked about this, ”Millar said in an interview with PEOPLE.

She had no doubt for a second, learning about Patrick and the possibility of face transplant. For her, this was a chance that David continue to live.

“When I met Patrick, I saw in him the same strength, masculinity and determination as in David,” she recalled.
“David dreamed of becoming a firefighter, and I knew that if this person was ready to go into the fire in order to save others and risk his own life, it means that there is the same force in him as in David.”

Dr. Eduardo D. Rodriguez gathered a team of 100 doctors, nurses and other employees, and they were preparing together for Patrick’s operation. It was the largest operation to transplant soft tissues in history – it lasted 26 hours.

Chances of 50/50

The medical team gave Patrick a new face, scalp, ears and auditory passages. Pieces of bones from the chin, cheeks and a whole nose were used. In addition, the new eyelids were transplanted by Patrick, thanks to which he was again able to blink naturally.

However, the operation was associated with huge risks. Due to the complexity of the procedure, Patrick’s chances for survival were only 50/50.

“In life, everything is related to risk,” Patrick told Time magazine.
“When the time comes, it comes – be it when the car knocks you down or when you lie on the operating table.”

Before the operation, Patrick met his family, perhaps the last time.

His eldest daughter Ellison asked why dad so desperately wants to go through this procedure.

“He said:“ I no longer have to wear a baseball cap and sunglasses. I will look normal when I spend you on the aisle to the altar ‘, ”said Ellison, quoting Patrick.

“And this finally convinced me.”

Fortunately, the operation turned out to be a great success, although it was only the beginning of a very long journey for Patrick. In the first week after the operation, he experienced nightly differences in blood pressure and instability of the respiratory tract.

The new face meant that he had to learn to speak and swallow again, he experienced fear and repeated attacks of irritation because of this. The face was so swollen that he could not even close his mouth.

“They gave me a new life,” says Patrick.

Despite all the tests, the operation changed his life. Patrick again gained the joy of communicating with his family, and also met the mother of David Rodebo, Nancy Millar. Their first meeting after the operation was very emotional, and it turned out that Nancy had one request.

“I asked: ‘May I kiss your forehead?’” Millar said. “It was what I wanted to do, because every night before going to bed I kissed David in the forehead.”

“I was waiting for a meeting with her for a whole year. I am immensely grateful, ”said Patrick. “Without her, this would not have happened. For me, she is like a family. We have so easily found a common language. ”

Today Patrick Hardison

Since then, seven years have passed since Patrick’s face transplantation. His life changed: a year after the operation, he and his wife Crissy divorced after ten years of marriage.

Patrick’s face healed well, the edema slept. Of course, he will have to take drugs that suppress the immune system so that the body does not reject transplanted tissues, but the operation gives him a chance for a new life.

“I am deeply grateful to my donor and his family,” Patrick said.
“Despite the fact that I did not know who they were, I prayed for them every day, realizing what a difficult decision they had to make to help me. I hope they will see in me all the kindness for which they made this choice. I also want to thank Dr. Rodriguez and his amazing team. They gave me not just a new face, they gave me a new life. ”

Today, Patrick, the father of five children, wants to use his story and restoration in order to convey to people the idea that it is never too late to change. Patrick personifies hope and seeks to help others, faced with severe injuries.

“I bought my own housing, now I am working on the construction of the house. I work on the book, ”Patrick Fox said in 2021.

“I want to show the world that hope exists. I do not want people who find themselves in a similar situation to think that it should be so. No, you can achieve everything you wish. ”

In turn, the recovery of Patrick Hardison is a real miracle, and we are incredibly inspired by the work of Dr. Eduardo D. Rodriguez and his team. You are real heroes!

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