New face & hands27 ..from same donor
Double transplant patient on his joy at a 2nd chance in life
A MAN has had the world’s first successful face and double hand transplant from the same donor.
Joe Dimeo, who was left disfigured when he was severely burned in a car crash, underwent 23 hours of surgery conducted by 16 doctors.
More than 120 other healthcare professionals took part in the marathon operation last August at NYU Langone Health in New York.
Appearing on Good Morning America yesterday, Joe said: “When I saw my face for the first time, it didn’t seem real.
“The swelling comes down every day. I see my cheekbones now.”
He said he wanted to one day meet his donor’s family but added: “I don’t know how to thank someone that gives you a second chance at life.”
The 22-year-old fell asleep at the wheel after working a night shift in 2018. The vehicle blew up, and he was pulled from the wreck. The explosion left him with third-degree burns over 80% of his body.
Joe spent the next four months in a New Jersey hospital’s burn unit, including more than two months in a medically induced coma. He was so severely burned his fingertips were amputated and he lost his lips, ears and eyelids.
“The therapist actually told me what happened to my body and I was pretty bummed out at first,” Joe said.
“But you know, that was my life at that point, so I had to push through it.”
No longer able to live independently on his release from hospital, he moved in with his parents, John and Rose Dimeo, who became his carers. They spoke of their son’s determination to rebuild his life.
John said: “He’s been that way the whole way through, just, ‘What’s next? What do we do next?’”
After the crash, Joe had 20 reconstructive surgeries but reached the point where his plastic surgeon told him there was nothing more he could do.
He was then connected to Dr Eduardo Rodriguez, at NYU Langone Health. The medic told the show: “A lot of his body was severely burned, and if it wasn’t burned, it was scarred from removing skin to cover those burns with skin grafts. Physically, he was severely compromised but his spirit was strong.”
Due to his age, good health, the severity of his burns, and determination, Joe was thought to be ideal for a face and a double hand transplant.
He said: “I never heard of such a thing. But I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ I was pretty excited. I wasn’t really scared or nervous, I just wanted to get through it.”
In August, doctors found a match for him – an unidentified donor in Delaware – who Joe had just a 6% chance of being compatible with due to all his surgery.
So far, he has not experienced any rejection of the transplant. Joe added: “I have 20lbs of grip strength. Usually people don’t get that in five months. On my days off from therapy, I still go downstairs and work out.”
He has also contacted the family of his donor, explaining: “I sent them a letter but I know they just had someone passed away, so I’m not trying to rush them.”
Joe’s goal is to live on his own again within the next two years, and go on to have a family, a career and a “normal, simple” life.
Talking of the impact of his surgery, he said: “It’s pretty interesting to see someone’s face on me but I guess it didn’t hit me yet. I think it’ll really hit me when I’m driving by myself and look in the rearview mirror and see myself.”
The United Network for Organ Sharing says there have been at least 18 face transplants and 35 hand transplants.
But simultaneous face and double hand transplants have only been tried twice before. The first was in 2009 on a patient in Paris, who died of complications. Two years later, a woman mauled by a chimpanzee had to have her transplanted hand removed soon after the op.
When the Mirror spoke to Joe yesterday, he offered a message of support to people who are where he once was, saying: “There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Never give up.”
I think it will really hit me when I’m driving, look in the rearview mirror and see myself
JOE DIMEO ON WHEN THE REALITY OF HIS FACE TRANSPLANT WILL HIT HOME