Firefighter suffers third-degree burns – this is him 7 years later

Patrick Hardison was seriously injured while attempting to rescue a woman he believed was trapped in a house fire.

This brave man endured years wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, and artificial ears in public after sustaining third-degree burns to his entire face and head.

Patrick used to make kids run away when they saw him, but in 2015, he received the most comprehensive face transplant ever, which made his life much better.

Hardison had a 50/50 chance of surviving the face transplant, according to sources. Despite this, the 26-hour process, which encompassed two teams of more than 100 individuals, was successful. At the moment, Patrick Hardison is living his life with his beloved wife and children.

Everything you need to know about Patrick’s incredible past and present appearance is right here.

The human body is now well understood. Physicians, nurses, surgeons, and all other medical personnel are true heroes who go above and beyond to aid in patients’ recovery. Furthermore, it’s amazing what can be done these days to save lives. Think about surgeons who can replace a heart or kidney.

Patrick Hardison, who received a face transplant

With their newfound understanding, experts can even change a person’s complete face for individuals in need. Face transplants have been performed since 2005, when Isabelle Dinoire became the first person to have one. In 2015, another incredibly uncommon procedure was completed in the United States when Patrick Hardison became the first American to have a face transplant.

Patrick attended his children’s sporting activities and loved spending time with his family, just like any other loving dad. The volunteer firefighter never stopped striving to serve his community to the best of his ability.

But one day in 2001, everything would alter forever for him and his family.

Patrick suffered significant burns to his head, neck, and upper chest after being called to a house fire. The majority of his nose, ears, lips, and eyelid tissue were also damaged by the fire.

His existence would presumably consist of other parents pointing and conversing with him while children ran away from him. But in 2015, the biggest face transplant ever performed was finished.

Patrick had a 50/50 chance of surviving the procedure because it was so complex. His face has dramatically changed, and he now looks fantastic. Everything you need to know about Patrick Hardison’s amazing adventure may be found here.

Patrick Hardison, a native of Mississippi, volunteered as a firefighter earlier in his life. A horrific accident occurred in 2001 while he was responding to a house fire.

Disfigurements brought on by a house fire

Hardison was inside the burning house when it fell on top of him.

“[My mask] was melting to my face,” Hardison said. “My hose was already melted.”

Patrick was severely hurt, and his head and upper chest were already on fire, but he managed to escape through a window.

“For someone 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 remarked after the incident about seeing Hardison.

The father suffered third-degree burns to his entire face and scalp. Additionally, he sustained facial burns to his head, neck, and upper body. The fire destroyed most of his nose, his lips, his ears, and even most of the tissue beneath his eyes.

I probably didn’t see myself clearly until November. I was injured in September,” Hardison said to Fox News. They had produced a small puncture in one of my eyelids because they had skin grafted over everything. When I looked at myself in the mirror, my only thought was, “This is it?” “That’s not possible,” he recalled.

Hardison’s life was about to change. After 71 surgeries and other procedures, he was still unable to produce normal facial expressions. Not only did eating and laughing hurt Patrick, but he could not close his eyes or blink.

Surgeons were eventually able to cover his eyes with skin flaps. But he was still at danger of losing his sight over time.

As the years went by, Patrick found it difficult to accept his appearance. Being with his children or even by himself became a source of sorrow. People were pointing at him, and the children were terrified.

lost any desire to live a typical existence.

Not only did Patrick always wear a baseball cap and sunglasses, but he also wore specially designed prosthetics to replace his ears.

“I had kids. It was just a challenging time. Despite my injuries, I didn’t take a day off. Going out in public was something that happened every day. Furthermore, he said that everything cannot be explained.

“When you go to the ball field, be prepared for the child who screams and runs off.”

For years, Patrick endured discomfort and glances from others while going about his everyday activities. He was losing all hope of living a regular life and was starting to think that his distorted appearance would be a lifelong curse.

But as time went on, surgeons developed new methods for replacing the face. In 2005, Isabelle Dinoire became the first individual to have a face transplant. But Hardison no longer had any hope of getting the help he so needed.

Then one day a friend found Dr. Eduardo D. Rodriguez, who worked at the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York. The search for a donor for Patrick began since Rodriquez had previously performed a face transplant.

After a year, Hardison’s search produced just two potential donors. The first one was a decent match, but the tissue profile was not.

David Rodebaugh, Patrick Hardison’s face donor

The future was bright for the second applicant. However, the person’s relatives did not take him into account.

Hardison was preparing to deal with the fact that he might never get a face transplant. Then, all of a sudden, another potential donor appeared. LiveOnNY, a group that coordinates organ donations in the New York area, had arranged a match. The face belonged to David Rodebaugh, a 26-year-old man who was declared brain dead following a serious head injury sustained in a cycling accident.

Nancy Millar, David’s mother, decided to give her son’s heart, liver, and kidneys after he passed away. But more importantly, she decided to also donate his face.

I said, “You had better keep his face intact.” He has the face of a doll made of porcelain. He is a donor, and we had talked about it,” Millar told People.

She didn’t hesitate when she found out about Patrick and the possibility of a face transplant. She viewed it as a chance for David to live.

“When I first met David, I noticed this strength, this strong, manly, burly kind of energy in Patrick,” she continued.

“I knew that if this guy was a firefighter, he had the strength that David had because he was willing to risk his life to save people in a fire, and David wanted to be a firefighter.”

Dr. Eduardo D. Rodriguez assembled his team of one hundred doctors, nurses, and other medical assistants to be ready for Hardison’s surgery. The treatment was the most complete soft tissue face transplant ever performed, taking an astounding 26 hours.

There is a 50/50 chance of surviving the surgery.

The medical team replaced Hardison’s face, scalp, ears, and ear canals. They selected bone fragments from the entire chin, cheeks, and nose. Patrick also had replacement eyelids, which restored his ability to blink normally.

However, there were dangers involved with the process. Patrick had a 50/50 chance of surviving the incredibly difficult procedure.

“Everything in life has a risk,” Hardison told Time Magazine.

“You will leave when it is time for you to do so, whether you are on the operating table or you are hit by a car while you are out on the street.”

Before the procedure, Patrick had what may have been his last meeting with his family.

His eldest daughter, Alison, asked why her father was so keen to get the surgery.

“I won’t have to wear sunglasses or a ball cap,” he said. Alison recalled Patrick stating, “I’ll look normal whenever I get to walk you down the aisle.”

“And that was, in my opinion, the last nail in the coffin.”

Although the surgery was fortunately successful, Patrick’s ordeal was far from ended. During the first week following surgery, he had late-night scares because of blood pressure fluctuations and an unstable airway.

The new face also made him nervous and frustrated since he had to learn how to swallow and speak again. He couldn’t even close his mouth since his face was that swollen.

“They have given me a new life.”

Despite everything, the patient’s life was transformed by the surgery. Not only did Patrick enjoy seeing his family again, but he also got to meet David Rodebaugh’s mother, Nancy Millar. During their tearful first encounter after the procedure, it was revealed that Nancy had one request.

“May I kiss your forehead?” I inquired. that was Millar who said that. “The one thing I wanted to do was kiss David’s forehead every night before he went to bed when he was little.”

For a year, I had been looking forward to our encounter. I just said, I’m very grateful,” Patrick stated. Without her, it would not have been possible. She is like family. We had no trouble connecting.

It’s been seven years since Patrick’s face transplant. Since then, a lot has changed in his life; a year after the surgery, he and Chrissi got divorced after ten years of marriage.

Hardison’s face has recovered nicely, and the edema has decreased. Even though he will need to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his life to keep his body’s immune system from fighting the transplant, he has been given the chance to live again.

In a statement, Hardison thanked his family and his donor for their support.

“Even though I had no idea who they would be, I prayed for them every day because I knew the difficult decision they would have to make to help me.”

“I hope they see the value of their decision in me. I also want to express my gratitude to Dr. Rodriguez and his amazing team. They have given me more than simply a fresh appearance. They have given me a new life.

Today’s pictures of Patrick Hardison

The five-time father now wants to encourage others that it’s never too late to give up by sharing his story and recovery. Because he is a symbol of hope, Patrick wants to help people who are coping with debilitating injuries.

“I’ve bought my own land and am currently having a house built on it. “I’m working on a book,” Hardison told Fox in 2021.

“I want to show the world that there is hope,” the speaker said. People who were in my shoes years ago shouldn’t think that this is the only way I can live. You don’t. You can do anything.