Twenty-two-year old Joe DiMeo from New Jersey became the world’s first successful face & double hand transplant patient.
What We Know:
- A surgical team from NYU Langone Health performed a face and double hand transplant for DiMeo, who was severely burned as a result of a horrific car accident. The surgery, which marked the first successful combination transplant of its kind, included transplanting both hands and a single donor’s full face. The operation consisted of a team of more than 140 healthcare professionals, including surgeons, nurses, and other staff.
- The surgery took place on the morning of August 12, 2020. It took approximately 23 hours, a total surgery time shorter than NYU Langone’s most recent face-only transplant for Cameron Underwood performed in 2018. Experts say it appears that DiMeo’s surgery was a success but warn it’ll take some time to be completely sure.
- According to NBC News, simultaneous face and double hand transplants have only been tried twice before. The first attempt was on a French patient in 2009 who died about a month later from complications. Two years later, a chimpanzee mauled woman was operated on, but it was unsuccessful, and doctors had to remove the transplanted hands days later.
“The possibility of us being successful based on the track record looked slim,” said Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, who led the medical team at NYU. “It’s not that someone has done this many times before and we have a kind of a schedule, a recipe to follow.”
- DiMeo is also having success readjusting to his life post-operation. He practiced raising his eyebrows during a recent therapy session, opening and closing his eyes, puckering his mouth, giving a thumbs up, and whistling. DiMeo is also working out again, benching 50 pounds and practicing his golf swing.
“You got a new chance at life. You really can’t give up,” said DiMeo. He will be on lifelong medications to avoid rejecting the new transplants, as well as consistent rehabilitation to gain function in his new face and hands.
