Patrick Hardison was severely burned while trying to save a lady he thought was trapped in a burning home.
Third-degree burns covered this courageous man’s whole face and head; for years, he went about sporting a baseball hat, sunglasses, and artificial ears.
Remembering how kids would shy away from him, Patrick’s life took another turn in 2015 when he had the world’s most thorough face transplant.
Hardison’s chances of surviving the face transplant were reportedly 50/50. The 26-hour operation, which included more than 100 personnel split into two teams, was ultimately successful.
Patrick Hardison is now enjoying family life with his wife and kids. Discover who Patrick is now and learn more about his extraordinary past in this article.
We know so much more about the human body today than ever before. All medical professionals, including doctors, nurses, surgeons, and others, are heroes for their selfless dedication to helping patients recover.
Furthermore, it is incredible what modern medicine can achieve to save a life. Doctors who can transplant organs like hearts and kidneys are one such example.
Transplantation of Patrick Hardison’s face Experts now have the capability to completely reconstruct a person’s face for those in need.
In 2005, Isabelle Dinoire became the first person to have a successful face transplant. In 2015, Patrick Hardison became the first American to have a face transplant.
This was a highly rare operation. Patrick, like any other caring parent, made it a point to see his kids play sports and enjoy time together.
The firefighter devoted his life to serving his community as a volunteer.But on that fateful day in 2001, everything would change for him and his loved ones.
Patrick was severely burned on his upper body, head, and neck after responding to a home fire. His nose, ears, lips, and a good portion of the tissue in his eyelids were all destroyed in the fire.
It seemed like his future was filled with kids avoiding him and adults making snide comments behind his back. But in 2015, doctors were able to successfully complete the world’s largest face transplant.
Due to the intricacy of the operation, Patrick’s chances of survival were barely half. He’s completely changed his appearance, and the results are stunning. Learn all about the incredible life of Patrick Hardison right here.
At one point in his life, Mississippi native Patrick Hardison served as a volunteer fireman. He was called to a home fire in 2001, and while there, a terrible tragedy unfolded.
Scarring burns from a home blaze Hardison was trapped amid the wreckage of his burning house. Hardison complained that his mask was becoming too warm and sticking to his face.
“My hose had already started to melt.”Patrick’s upper body and head were on fire as he escaped via a window, and he sustained terrible burns.
For someone who does what we do for a job, I’ve never seen someone burnt that severely who was still alive,” Hardison’s buddy and first responder Jimmy Neal said after meeting Hardison after the tragedy.
The father’s whole face and head were covered with third-degree burns. His face, neck, and upper body were also badly burned. His eyelid tissue, his nose, his lips, and his ears were all destroyed in the fire.
Not until maybe November did I finally get a glimpse of myself. Hardison said, “I was hurt in September. They had everything covered with a skin graft, so they cut a little hole in one of my eyes.
When I caught sight of myself in the mirror, all I could think was, “This is it?” I just can’t,'” he remembers himself saying.
Hardison might begin a fresh start. He had 71 operations and other treatments, yet his facial expressions were remained abnormal. It hurt Patrick to eat, make him giggle, and prevent him from closing his eyes.
Youtube/NYU Langone Health His eyesight was saved when surgeons were able to sew together skin flaps. He was still at danger of losing his sight gradually.
Patrick’s struggle with embracing his physical look grew throughout the years. It became a nightmare for him to be around his kids or even be alone.
Children ran away from him while adults pointed and laughed at him. Hopelessness of leading a normal life Patrick’s distinctive ensemble consisted of a baseball cap, sunglasses, and prosthetic ears.
I’m a parent. It was just a difficult period. The injury prevented me from ever having a day off. It happens every time you go out into the world. It’s simply so, he continued; there’s no way to explain everything.
When you take your kids to the ball field, you should be ready for the youngster to run off screaming.
Patrick had to deal with discomfort and people’s stares as he walked down the street for a long time. His damaged visage had him convinced that he would be doomed to a life of misery and isolation.
However, as time progressed, doctors found better ways to do face transplants. In 2005, Isabelle Dinoire made history by undergoing the first successful face transplant. Hardison, though, had stopped expecting to get the assistance he needed.
Then, a mutual acquaintance of yours happened onto Dr. Eduardo D. Rodriguez of New York’s NYU Langone Medical Centre.
Knowing that Rodriquez had previously conducted a face transplant, the hunt started for a suitable donor for Patrick.
Hardison spent a year looking for donors but only found two. The first one had a great genetic match, but a terrible tissue profile.
Patrick Hardison, David Rodebaugh’s donor face The second contender showed a lot of promise. However, the man’s loved ones decided to rule him out.
Hardison was getting ready to deal with the possibility that he may never have a face transplant. Then, out of nowhere, a second possible benefactor emerged.
The New York-based charity organisation LiveOnNY, which facilitates organ donations, has located a suitable donor.
David Rodebaugh, 26, suffered a catastrophic head injury in a bicycle accident and was later pronounced brain dead; his face was removed and preserved.
Nancy Millar, David’s mother, agreed to give her son’s organs when he died away. These were his liver, heart, and kidneys. She also made the crucial decision to give away his face.
I said, “You need to save his pride. He looks like a porcelain doll, so to speak. Millar told People, “And he’s a donor — we had talked about it.”
When she found out about Patrick and the potential of a face transplant, she immediately said yes. This was her opportunity to give David a second shot at life.
She reflected on meeting Patrick and how she saw in him “this strength, this strong, manly, burly kind of energy” that David had.
For example: “David wanted to be a firefighter, and I knew if this guy was a firefighter — he was willing to walk into a fire to save people and risk his own life — then he had the strength that David had.”
Dr. Eduardo D. Rodriguez and his team of one hundred physicians, nurses, and other medical staff members got ready to operate on Hardison. The 26-hour operation was the longest face transplant involving soft tissue.
Surgery success rate = 50% Hardison received a whole new appearance thanks to the efforts of the medical staff. They picked off bone from the nose, the cheekbones, and the chin.
In addition, Patrick’s natural capacity to blink was restored through the implantation of artificial eyelids.
It was a risk, though, to undergo the operation. Patrick’s chances of surviving the very complicated operation were about even.
Nothing is without danger, Hardison said Time magazine. Whether you’re crossing the street and get struck by a vehicle or you’re in the operating room, “when it’s your time to go, you’ll go.”
Patrick had what could have been his final conversation with his loved ones before undergoing surgery.
Alison, his oldest child, questioned her dad’s haste to have the operation. “He remarked, ‘I won’t need to wear a ball hat or my shades.
Alison recalls Patrick stating, “I’ll appear normal once I get to escort you down the aisle. That, right then and then, was the clincher for me.
The operation was a huge success, thank goodness, but it was only the beginning of a long road for Patrick. His blood pressure would drop and his airway would get blocked, causing him to have sleepless nights for the first week after surgery.
His nervousness and dissatisfaction were exacerbated by the fact that he had to relearn basic functions like speaking and swallowing in light of his new appearance.
His face was so bloated that he could hardly shut his lips. The phrase “they have given me a new life” Despite the risks, the operation proved transformative.
In addition to reuniting with his own loved ones, Patrick also had the pleasure of meeting Nancy Millar, David Rodebaugh’s mum.
Their first emotional meeting following the operation revealed that Nancy had a single desire. I asked if I might kiss your forehead. Says Millar.
“That was the one thing I really wanted to do, because I always kissed David on the forehead before he went to sleep when he was a baby.”
A year has passed, and I still haven’t met her. Gratitude is all I have to say,” Patrick stated. Nothing could have been done without her. Like, she’s kin or something. It was that simple for us to click.
Patrick’s face transplant operation took place seven years ago. A year after the operation, after ten years of marriage, he and Chrissi had a divorce, and his life has altered drastically ever then.
There is much less edoema in Hardison’s face now that he has recovered. The transplant has given him a second shot at life, but he will need to take anti-rejection medicines for the rest of his life to prevent his immune system from rejecting the new organ.
In a statement, Hardison expressed his “deep gratitude” to the donor and his family. “Even though I did not know who they would be, I prayed for them every day,” she said, “knowing the difficult decision they would have to make in order to help me.”
I pray they see the rightness of their choice in me. A special thanks goes out to Dr. Rodriguez and his fantastic staff. It’s more than just a new appearance they’ve given me. They have resurrected my life.
Current photos of Patrick Hardison The father of five now hopes to inspire others via his ordeal and rehabilitation to realise it’s never too late to change.
Patrick is a symbol of optimism, and he wants to assist others who are coping with injuries that have rendered them unable to work.
I’ve just purchased land and am in the process of having a home constructed. Hardison said to Fox in 2021, “I’m working on a book.”
Because I want to prove to everyone that there is reason to believe. I don’t want those who were formerly like me to conclude that this is the only way to live and give up hope.
Not at all. Anything is within your reach. The surgical team led by Dr. Eduardo D. Rodriguez has impressed us much with Patrick Hardison’s miraculous recovery. Indeed, you are the true saviours.
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