He suffered devastating burns when he tried to rescue a woman trapped in a fire. For years, he was terrified to show his face to the world, and wore caps, sunglasses and prosthetic ears in public. A few years ago, Patrick got the most extensive face transplant ever. I was not ready for how he looks now, and you won’t be either 💔 😳👇 Check 1st comment
Patrick Hardison Received A New Face After Third-degree Burns, This Is Him Today
You probably heard a lot of mind-blowing stories, but the one about the life of Patrick Hardison from Mississippi is about to blow you out of your socks!
Back in 2015, Patrick was the first man to receive a face transplant after he was caught in a burning house that left his face completely disfigured back in 2001.
He began on a humble path as a volunteer firefighter earlier in his life. Whenever his help was needed, he didn’t hesitate a second, until one day a house collapsed on top of him and trapped him. His torso and face were severely burnt.
“[My mask] was melting to my face,” Patrick recalled a terrible memory. “My hose [was] already melted.”
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 told CBS News of seeing Patrick after the accident.
Patrick’s burns on his face and scalp were classified as 3rd degree burns. He also had burns on his head, neck and upper torso. His lips were completely destroyed along with most of his nose and eyelid tissue.
“I didn’t actually see myself until probably November. I got injured in September,” Patrick 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.
