Hardison was disfigured when the roof of the building he was searching collapsed on him leading to the loss of his eyelids, ears, lips, most of his nose, his eyebrows, and his hair. His skin was so badly damaged that he was not even able to close his eyes completely.
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Speaking of his future Patrick said: “I can live with the pain”. His mother gave the OK for Rodriguez to use her son’s face.
The stories of the former firefighter Patrick Hardison and bike mechanic David Rodebaugh were detailed in a recent NY Magazine article. It was the first time such a procedure has been used to benefit an emergency rescue volunteer. “So this is here to stay, it will not go away and we can do this safer and the results of these patients will be far better”, Rodriguez said. Talking or eating was excruciating. This proved to be a success when no one gave Patrick a second look while out on shopping for new clothes with the medical team. Plastic surgeon Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez said finding the right match required a lengthy search.
The procedure was conducted at NYU Langone Medical Center on August 14 and took approximately 26 hours.
NY University will pay for the estimated $1 million surgery.
Now, three months out from the surgery, doctors are cutting back on the immune-suppressive drugs that Hardison must take to keep his body from rejecting his new face, Rodriguez said.
Eventually, “a casual observer will not notice anything that is odd” in Hardison’s new face, which will blend features of his original face and the donor’s, Rodriguez said.
“They’re excited to see me”.
The surgical team worked in two adjoining operating rooms-in one room the donor’s face was procured (along with other donated organs), and in the other the recipient’s face and scalp burn was removed and the transplant took place. “He persisted”, Rodriguez said.
The medical science behind transplants has been progressing at a rapid pace in recent years. It’s the first time that doctors have transplanted a patient’s eyelids.
The surgery was pivotal in that the donor’s eyelids and the muscles that control blinking were transplanted-a significant milestone and a procedure that had not been previously performed on a seeing patient. Select bony structures were transplanted into Hardison’s face to rebuild the structure of his nose, chin, and cheeks.
In the most extensive operation of its kind, carried out at the NYU Langone Medical Centre, he has now received a face transplant which covers his skull, much of his neck and both ears.
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Just past year, a Vermont woman also received an extensive face transplant after her face was disfigured when her estranged husband doused her with lye in June 2007.
