A face transplant FOUND ME LOVE
A car crash led Joe to the love of his life Joe DiMeo, 25
What’s wrong with his face?’ a little girl asked innocently as I walked past in the street.
‘Shhh,’ her mum hissed. The gawps and comments didn’t bother me. After all, if I saw me
– a stocky 185cm-tall bloke, with a dis gured face and badly burned arms – I’d probably stare too.
My looks were here to stay, and had been since July 14, 2018.
Aged 19, I’d nished my night shift at a food testing lab and set off driving home. Three and a half months later, I found myself waking up in hospital from a coma.
I discovered I’d fallen asleep at the wheel, and my car had crashed and exploded into ames after veering off the road.
‘You sustained third degree burns to 80 per cent of your body,’ the plastic surgeon revealed.
I’d had multiple surgeries and 17 skin grafts to save my life, and my ngertips had been amputated.
‘We didn’t think you’d make it,’ my parents, Rose and John, stammered.
Two weeks later, I saw my unrecognisable face and body for the rst time.
I was strangely unperturbed. ‘This is the way I look now,’ I said.
My high cheek bones and dark eyebrows were gone, and I had issues seeing due to scarring.
‘It’s a miracle I’ve survived. This is life now and I’m going to make the most of it,’ I added.
Even though I was always a positive person, other people were still shocked by how well I took the news.
Discharged, I moved back in with my parents. I could clean my teeth and dress, but needed help cooking and cleaning. Being cocooned indoors recovering was frustrating, even with my beloved Boston terrier Buster at my side.
Now 10 months after the accident, I was out and about and handling the new-found attention.
But a few weeks later, my plastic surgeon had a suggestion. ‘We could perform a face and double hand transplant,’ he said.
As I listened intently, he explained if the procedure was a success, it’d be a world rst.
My hands would be amputated and replaced with donor ones. And a donor face, with skin, nerves, tendons and muscles would be attached to where mine once was.
I didn’t know that was even possible, but my medical team were incredible. There were risks from the mammoth surgery, but I trusted them implicitly so didn’t hesitate.
‘It’ll give me my life back,’ I said to my parents.
On August 12, 2020, I got the call to say a 48-year-old man who had died from a stroke would be my donor.
Admitted to New York University’s Langone Medical Centre, 80 medical professionals performed the 24-hour procedure.
Sedated for two weeks, I was awake but paralysed to let my wounds heal. When I did regain feeling, indescribably intense nerve pain seared through me. Painkillers helped, and when the swelling went down and I saw the new me, I smiled, truly grateful. Self-pity isn’t in my
nature – and I’d had
‘We didn’t think you’d make it,’ my parents said
incredible pioneering surgery. How lucky was I?
I liked my new looks and, better yet, I could see clearly again and had better lip movement.
My hands were amazing and I could type again.
Six weeks later, while my ve hours of daily therapy were gruelling, I decided to share my journey on social media.
‘Maybe it’ll let others doing it tough know they are not alone, and no matter how hard things get they can still live a ful lling life,’ I said to my parents.
Soon, I was receiving hundreds of messages from inspired and intrigued people.
Then one message on Instagram grabbed my attention.
You have a Boston terrier, me too, it read.
Not many people said anything that wasn’t related to my accident and op, so I replied. Jessica, a nurse, had a dog called Kirkland.
Messages ew between us as we bonded over our love for our pets.
While I wasn’t looking for romance, there was something about Jessica, so I invited her to visit…
Jessica Perez, 32, says
As a nurse, when I followed Joe’s Instagram, I had a professional interest in his recovery.
I didn’t reach out until I saw his Boston terrier!
Soon, we were chatting all things dog, and then we had a phone call.
Hearing his voice, I knew he was special.
‘I’d love to,’ I said when Joe asked me to meet him in person.
Making the eight-hour drive with Kirkland and then knocking on his door, butter ies collided in my stomach as Joe hugged me. He was funny, kind, caring and intelligent.
I loved how Joe could talk about anything with anyone. And his constant positivity was mindblowing!
We played pool and laughed with his parents.
Seeing beneath his scars, in my eyes, Joe’s looks matched his beautiful nature.
It was love at rst sight, and my heart uttered when we stole our rst kiss soon after.
‘This is serious,’ we told my loved ones, but missing each other in a longdistance relationship was hard. So following my heart, I boarded a plane and moved in with Joe.
A wonderful team, we’ve just bought our rst home after three years together.
Joe has ongoing physio and hospital stays, and lives with the risk his body could reject the transplant.
Being a nurse, I’m not deterred by his medical needs.
People can be cruel and jibe and taunt when they see us in public, but Joe is such a strong guy, he doesn’t let haters faze him.
‘I’m the same Joe inside. Nothing had changed besides my skin,’ he says.
Joe always looks for the good, and his supportive words have helped distraught people come back from the brink.
‘Looking on the bright side, my accident is one of the best things that happened to me because I found you,’ he tells me.
And, he’s the best thing that happened to me. ●
We bonded over our love for our pets