While trying to save a woman he thought was trapped in a house fire, Patrick Hardison suffered severe injuries.
After suffering third-degree burns to his entire face and scalp, this courageous man spent years wearing sunglasses, a baseball cap, and prosthetic ears in public.
Children used to flee when they saw Patrick, but in 2015, he had the most thorough face transplant ever, which completely improved his life.
According to sources, Hardison’s chances of surviving the face transplant were 50/50. Nevertheless, the procedure, which required 26 hours and involved two teams of over 100 people, was successful. Patrick Hardison is currently living his life with his cherished wife and kids.
Here is everything you need to know about Patrick’s amazing story and current appearance.
We now know a great deal about the human body. Medical professionals—physicians, nurses, surgeons, and everyone else—are real heroes who go above and beyond to help patients recover. Furthermore, the things that may be done to save lives nowadays are astounding. Consider surgeons with the ability to replace a kidney or a heart.
Patrick Hardison – face transplant
Experts can even alter a person’s entire face for those in need thanks to the knowledge they now possess. Since Isabelle Dinoire became the first person to have a face transplant in 2005, face transplants have been carried out. Patrick Hardison became the first American to receive a face transplant in 2015, marking the completion of another extremely rare treatment in the US.
Like any other devoted parent, Patrick enjoyed spending time with his family and went to his kids’ athletic events. The volunteer firefighter was constantly trying to do his best to serve his town.
But his and his family’s lives would change irrevocably one day in 2001.
After being called to a house fire, Patrick’s head, neck, and upper chest were severely burned. In addition, the fire destroyed most of his nose, ears, lips, and eyelid tissue.
It seems that his life would be filled with kids fleeing away from him and other parents pointing and talking. However, the largest face transplant ever carried out was completed in 2015.
Because the procedure was so complicated, Patrick’s chances of surviving it were only 50/50. He has a completely different face now, and it looks amazing. Here is everything you need to know about Patrick Hardison’s incredible journey.
Earlier in his life, Mississippian Patrick Hardison volunteered as a firefighter. He was responding to a house fire in 2001 when a terrible accident happened.
Disfiguring injuries in a house fire
When the blazing house collapsed on top of Hardison, he was inside.
“[My mask] was melting to my face,” Hardison said. “My hose [was] already melted.”
Although he was able to escape through a window, Patrick was horribly injured, and his head and upper torso were already on fire.
“For somebody who does what we do for a living, I’ve never seen anybody burned that bad that was still alive,” friend and first responder Jimmy Neal recalled of seeing Hardison after the accident.
The father’s entire face and scalp were burned in the third degree. He also suffered face burns to his upper body, neck, and head. His lips, ears, most of his nose, and even the majority of the tissue under his eyes were all destroyed by the fire.
“I didn’t actually see myself until probably November. I got injured in September,” Hardison told Fox News. “They had cut a little pinhole in one of my eyelids because they had everything covered, skin graft. I looked in the mirror and all I could do, I said, ‘this is it? I can’t do this,’” he recalled.
Hardison had a new life ahead of him. He was still unable to make typical facial expressions despite 71 operations and various treatments. Not only was it painful for Patrick to eat or laugh, but he was also unable to blink or close his eyes.
Eventually, surgeons managed to attach skin flaps to shield his vision. He was still at risk of gradually losing his sight, though.
Patrick struggled to accept his appearance as the years passed. It turned become a misery to be with his kids, or even alone himself. The kids were afraid as people pointed at him.
Lost hope of living an ordinary life
In addition to wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap at all times, Patrick also donned specially made prostheses to replace his ears.
“I had kids. It was just a tough time. I never got a day off from the injury. When you walk out in public, it was daily. And, you know, it’s just so — there’s no way to explain everything,” he said.
“You go to the ball field, you have to prepare yourself for the kid that goes running off screaming.”
Patrick struggled for years with discomfort and people’s stares as he went about his daily business. He was beginning to believe that his deformed appearance would be a permanent curse, and he was losing all chance of leading a normal life.
However, as time passed, surgeons created new techniques for face replacements. Isabelle Dinoire eventually became the first person to receive a face transplant in 2005. However, Hardison had lost all chance of receiving the assistance he sorely needed.
Dr. Eduardo D. Rodriguez, who was employed at the NYU Langone Medical Centre in New York, was then discovered by a buddy one day. Since Rodriquez had already done a face transplant, the hunt for a donor for Patrick started.
Hardison’s search yielded only two possible donors after a year. The tissue profile was not a good match, but the first one was.
Patrick Hardison – face donor David Rodebaugh
The second applicant had a bright future. But the individual was not taken into consideration by his family.
Hardison was getting ready to face the possibility that he may never receive a face transplant. Then, suddenly, there was another possible donor. A match had been made by LiveOnNY, a nonprofit organisation that arranges organ donations in the New York region. The face belonged to 26-year-old David Rodebaugh, who was deemed brain dead after suffering a severe head injury in a bicycle accident.
Following David’s death, Nancy Millar, his mother, made the decision to donate her son’s kidneys, liver, and heart. More significantly, she made the decision to donate his face as well.
“I said, ‘You better save his face. He has the face of a porcelain doll.’ And he’s a donor — we had talked about it,” Millar told People.
When she learnt about Patrick and the prospect of a face transplant, she didn’t think twice. She saw it as an opportunity for David to survive.
“When I met Patrick, I saw this strength, this strong, manly, burly kind of energy in him — that David had,” she recalled.
“David wanted to be a firefighter, an 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.”
To prepare for Hardison’s surgery, Dr. Eduardo D. Rodriguez brought together his team of one hundred physicians, nurses, and other medical assistants. At a staggering 26 hours, the procedure was the most extensive soft tissue face transplant ever done.
50/50 chance of surviving the surgery
Hardison’s face, scalp, ears, and ear canals were all replaced by the medical staff. They chose pieces of bone from the entire nose, cheeks, and chin. In addition, Patrick was given new eyelids, which allowed him to blink normally once more.
But there were risks associated with the procedure. Patrick’s chances of surviving the extremely complicated treatment were only 50/50.
“Everything in life has a risk,” Hardison told Time Magazine.
“When it’s your time to go, you’ll go—whether you’re walking down the street and get hit by a car or you’re lying on the operating table.”
Patrick had what might have been his final encounter with his family before the surgery.
Alison, his oldest daughter, questioned why her father was so anxious to get the surgery done.
“He said, ‘I won’t have to wear a ball cap and I won’t have to wear my sunglasses. I’ll look normal whenever I get to walk you down the aisle,’” Alison recalled Patrick saying.
“And that right then pretty much sealed the deal for me.”
Thankfully, the surgery went quite well, but Patrick’s journey was far from over at this point. He experienced late-night scares related to blood pressure swings and an unstable airway during the first week after the surgery.
He also had to learn how to swallow and talk again due of the new face, which caused him to experience worry and frustration. His face was so bloated that he was unable to even close his mouth.
“They have given me a new life”
The surgery changed the patient’s life in spite of everything. In addition to feeling happy to see his family again, Patrick had the opportunity to meet Nancy Millar, the mother of David Rodebaugh. It came out that Nancy had one request at their emotional first meeting following the procedure.
“I said, ‘Can I kiss your forehead?’” Millar said. “That’s the one thing I wanted to do because every night before David went to bed when he was little, I kissed his forehead.”
“I’ve been waiting a year to meet her. I’m just very grateful,” Patrick said. “Without her, it wouldn’t have been possible. It’s like she’s family. We connected that easily.”
Seven years have passed since Patrick had his face transplanted. His life has changed significantly since then; after 10 years of marriage, he and Chrissi got divorced a year after the surgery.
The oedema has subsided and Hardison’s face has healed well. He has been given the opportunity to live again, despite the fact that he must take anti-rejection medications for the rest of his life to prevent his body’s immune system from opposing the transplant.
“I am deeply grateful to my donor and his family,” Hardison said in a statement.
“Even though I did not know who they would be, I prayed for them every day, knowing the difficult decision they would have to make in order to help me.“
“I hope they see in me the goodness of their decision. I also want to thank Dr. Rodriguez and his amazing team. They have given me more than a new face. They have given me a new life.”
Patrick Hardison today – pictures
The five-time father now hopes to use his experience and recuperation to inspire others that it’s never too late to give up. Patrick wants to assist others who are dealing with crippling injuries because he represents hope.
“I’ve bought my own place, working on getting a house built. I’m working on a book,” Hardison told Fox in 2021.
“Because I want to show the world that you can have hope. I wouldn’t want people that were like me years ago to think that’s it, I have to live like this. You don’t. You can accomplish anything.”
Dr. Eduardo D. Rodriguez and his colleagues are an incredible inspiration, and Patrick Hardison’s recovery is truly remarkable. The true heroes are you!
