The world’s first full facial transplant is a success

Patrick Hardison has become the recipient of the first successful facial transplant. The 41-year old retired fireman was wounded when a roof on fire fell down on him in 2001. His face was severely disfigured so surgeons at the Langone Medical Center in New York University had to perform a transplant.

According to The Guardian, the surgeons labeled the transplant as a “historic” achievement.  The procedure involved replacing the firefighter’s face with that of a brain-dead donor’s. Head surgeon Eduardo Rodriguez said that the face was not rejected by Hardison’s body past ninety-three days following the transplant, a sign of the procedure’s success.

More than 100 people on two teams worked on Hardison for 26 hours. Hardison had a 50/50 chance of surviving the transplant. This involved the careful closure and reconnection of nerves and blood vessels, facial bone refitting, skin and tissue removal, and skin “re-draping on the entire face.

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