Rodebaugh was pronounced clinically dead after a cycling accident and his parents approved the transplant of their son’s face.
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“Patrick is lovely”, she told the medical team.
Patrick Hardison’s face transplant was revealed to the world this week after the former MS firefighter’s doctor unveiled his new appearance 88 days after he underwent a 26-hour procedure.
He also stated that after three months of the operation, Hardison is now doing and recovering well. “(But) there’s a lot of scars that we still have to deal with, there’s a lot of anguish, that’s why we’re helping him”. “It’s just-it’s very emotional, to have that”. In his hometown, parents stared and children asked questions (he told them he fought a bear).
It all began in 2001 in Hardison’s native Mississippi.
Hardison received a full scalp and face, including ears, nose, lips and upper and lower eyelids. “The same goes with the face”, Rodriguez said a news conference in NY on Tuesday (NZT).
Since 1985, 28 face transplants have been performed worldwide. As for the “perfect” donor, Rodriguez was seeking someone who matched Hardison in skeletal structure, not simply skin color, hair color, and blood type.
David Rodebaugh was 26.
“I am deeply grateful to my donor and his family”. “Even though I did not know who they would be, I prayed for them every day, knowing the hard decision they would have to make in order to help me”. NYU Langone Medical Center has announced the success of a face transplant that sets new standards of care in this emerging field.
Tears and smiles. Two expressions blanketing Senatobia on Monday as news spreads of firefighter Patrick Hardison’s surgery. The transplant extends from the top of the head, over Hardison’s skull and down to the collarbones in front. The roof collapsed and his entire face including his lips, eye lids and ears were burned. Blinking enables the body to appropriately hydrate and clean the eyes to prevent infection and preserve vision.
The transplant cost between $800,000 and $1 million and was paid for by medical center grant money.
Hardison is still getting physical therapy in NY, but plans to return home in time for Thanksgiving.
But this father of five was ready to take that chance.
“We were able to manage it. So, all the obstacles we were not expecting, we handled well and without difficulty”, Rodriquez said.
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Hardison hopes to become a motivational speaker and give inspiration to wounded veterans.
