CHECK OUT THIS FIREFIGHTER EXTENSIVE FACE TRANSPLANT

Patrick Hardison, a 41 year old volunteer firefighter, was badly burned in a 2001 blaze but he has now successfully gone through a 3-month recovery after a full face surgery took place at New York University’s Langone Medical Center.

It took 26 hours and more than 100 people to conduct the transplant which extends from the top of his head to his skull and down to the collarbones in front. It also covers both his ears and back of his head except for a tiny patch of his original hair.

Hardison’s lead surgeon, Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, said his transplant is so far the most extensive and successful surgery in terms of the amount of tissues transferred. Before the transplant in August, he had gone through a total of 71 surgeries. Hardison’s donor was a 26-year-old New York artist and competitive bicyclist, David P. Rodebaugh, who was left in a vegetative state after a cycling accident. His mother gave permission to donate his face, noting that he had always wanted to be a firefighter... oh well, I guess he can now be one.