Meet 41-year-old Pat Hardison, a former firefighter from Tennessee who lost most of his face when his fireman’s mask melted during a blaze in a mobile home in 2001.
He said his disfigured features made his young children scream in terror – and he despaired of ever living a normal life again. But now Hardison has been given a new face – and new hope – thanks to the riskiest face transplant ever performed.
The father of five had the face of 26-year-old David Rodebaugh grafted on to what remained of his own features in August this year after the young man died in a cycling crash.
The surgery was so perilous that Hardison was told he had only a 50 per cent chance of surviving it. But three months later he is thriving and boasts: ‘Now I’m just an average guy.’
The amazing transformation was only made possible when Rodebaugh’s mom agreed to the transplant, noting that her son had always wanted to be a firefighter.