O. Announcer this is a special edition of nightline. Brave face. Good evening. Thanks for joining us. Tonight, inside a medical marvel. An unprecedented, in many ways unbelievable full face transplant. Its the story of a heroic firefighter, his face burned in a rescue mission. A bmx biker whose generosity of spirit makes it possible. And the topnotch surgeon on the frontier of modern medicine. Three remarkable men whose lives are now forever linked. I got to sit down with the recipient, pat hardison, for his one and only tv interview. And his transformation took my breath away. In a city where people will do almost anything to stand out, pat hardison just wants to blend in. Its really unbelievable all the stuff that you see in new york. My daughters would love it because they could shop forever. Reporter a loving father of five from mississippi who for 14 ya years now has hidden behind a hat and sunglasses. Im going to have you take off your hat. Reporter that rest on prosthetic ears. Can you take off your ears for me for a second . See how these are doing. Reporter pats come to Nyu Langone Medical Center to undergo the most extensive face transplant ever attempted. A medical team led by surgeon Eduardo Rodriguez has been preparing for this unprecedented surgery for three years now. This is a very graphic image, but it gives you an understanding of everything thats going to be removed. Reporter he warns pat the painstaking procedure to remove his scartissued face and replace it with a new one could kill him. His chance of surviving, just 50 50. The reality is we can make you much worse than you are now. And if this were not to work weve actually made you worse than you were before. So you completely understand this, right . Oh, yeah. Reporter its a risk pat is more than willing to take because for more than a decade pats lived with the scars, both physical and mental, from the fire that burned off his face. Just like every other fire. Reporter it was 2001. Pat was a volunteer fireman responding to a house fire. He rushed head long into the flames to rescue a woman believed to be inside. Went in looking for a lady. Nobody was sure if she was at home. Me and pat went into the bedroom. Everything kind of fell apart. I cant remember it because i thought i just remember the ceiling collapsed and i would ko just see everything coming down. Reporter pats face was burned so badly the other firefighters didnt even know it was him until they loaded him into the ambulance. He pulled me down over his face and he said take care of christie and the kids. Thats when i knew who i had. We closed the door on that ambulance, and i figured it was the last time id ever see him alive. You know, daddy left one way and then when i came back home i was a totally different person. Reporter pat spent 63 days in the hospital recovering from burns that robbed him of his scalp, ears, and nose. His eyelids and lips also gone. When he got home, his Young Children were terrified. I think the first time i realized what he had gone through was the first time i saw him. Reporter alison, pats oldest daughter, was just 6 at the time. And i remember going up to the house and my mom and stepdad literally had to drag me in the house because i was scared. Reporter over time his devastated family adjusted. To us he became normal. He looked normal. We didnt think anything of it. Reporter ever the family man, he went on to have two more children. But inside he was struggling. The guy once known as the life of the party became withdrawn, depressed, and began abusing his pain medication. His friends felt helpless. It was hard for me to tell him. And its even harder for him to hear it and accept it as the truth. Reporter he endured months of surgeries. Doctors were able to approximate a mouth, nose, and lips, even fashioning those ears. Look to the left. And look to the right. Reporter but there was nothing they could do about his missing eyelids. Without them pat would go blind. He went through i dont know, 50, 60, 70 surgeries over a period of three, four, five years. I cant imagine what it does to you mentally. Reporter so he was eager to do whatever it took to get his life back. Hopes now pinned on a trailblazing surgeon. There are a lot of pieces that have to come together. Reporter in the emerging field of face transplants. Did he need this surgery . No. Reporter in the traditional sense. He could have stayed this way for as long as he lived. However, pat was not living by our standards. Lets go. Im that ready. Reporter for patients like that its important to kind of slow the process down and ensure that they completely understand what theyre getting into. These are great, great photographs in here. Reporter before moving forward dr. Rodriguez needed to manage pat and his familys expectations. What if we do the surgery and everything is reasonably successful but your expectations are not met . Ill be better than what i am today. Im not saying ill get back like i was and, you know, before 2001. Im saying get me back normallooking as you can. Reporter Nyu Langone Medical Center would cover the milliondollar procedure in the name of research. I was a little freaked out about it. I knew it was something he would want to help make him feel what you would call normal again. Reporter but they needed the perfect donor. The wait was excruciating. Just a daybyday thing. You get up every morning, you think its the day today. Next day the same way. He basically told me he didnt know if he wanted to keep living. We prayed about it, and here we are getting the surgery. But yeah, it was tough. Reporter only possible through a twist of fate that would forever link pat to a man he would never meet. Dave was without a doubt like the best guy you never met. Reporter his name was dave rodebaugh, a 26yearold Bike Mechanic who lived in brooklyn, new york. Dave loved to ride. He even won this red bullsponsored race last year. Oh, what an upset. Reporter dave was fatally injured biking home from work. His tightknit group of friends memorializing him with a ghost bike at the scene of his accident. Daves mom there for the tribute. Dave matched every single criteria pat and his doctors had been waiting for. Age, hair, skin color, blood type. Even skeletal measurements. When daves mom was asked if shed donate his organs, she didnt hesitate. She knew straightaway david would have done anything to help. She was told she could never have children and she had david. And she felt very much that he was a miracle and that by doing this the miracle would continue. Reporter dave was the perfect donor. And his kidneys, liver, and heart would save four other lives. The man that got his heart, id like to just like meet him and be like id like you to know that you have a lions heart. Feel good . Yeah, feel good. Reporter a quick hug from his sister and pats wheeled into the o. R. Dr. Rodriguezs plan remove whats left of pats scarred face and scalp and replace them with donor tissue, muscles and even nerves. The donors body in the room next door, where another Surgical Team takes a moment to reflect before surgery. May we now all take a moment of silence and honor the life of david rodebaugh. Reporter a warning. Some of the footage youre about to see is graphic. Dr. Rodriguez begins working on the donor. Every step finely choreographed with the team next door. Our watches are synchronized. The teams are ready to go. Reporter the donors face is slowly and delicately removed. Every incision perfectly timed and in sequence. They now begin removing pats face. Theres constant communication. So they do not compromise the scalp until i can give them confirmation that the scalp is viable. They do not take the eyelids off until they know that ive reached the point of no return. Because we have to keep pat safe. And i keep an eye on the clock at all times to know that were on track with every step of our operation. Reporter eight hours later pats face, which was mostly scar tissue, has been removed. Well, when you take someones entire face off, then youre essentially looking at raw tissue. The muscles, the facial expression, the eyeballs are essentially exposed. Reporter pat is just a few feet away from his new face. The transplant can finally begin. Theres a lot of concern in my mind, are we able to deliver this . Weve got one chance to basically land this on the moon perfectly. Reporter when nightline returns. You never know when itll be your moment to shine. So dont trust your smile to any regular toothpaste. Improved crest 3d white brilliance removes 5 times more stains than the red box. Try the whole collection for a smile that gets you noticed. After a dvt blood clot. Mind when i got out of the hospital what about my family . My lil buddy . And what if this happened again . I was given warfarin in the hospital but i wondered if this was the right treatment for me. Then my doctor told me about eliquis. Eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. Not only does eliquis treat dvt and pe blood clots, but eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. Knowing eliquis had both. Turned around my thinking. Dont stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. If you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. And it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Eliquis treats dvt pe blood clots. Plus had less major bleeding. Both made switching to eliquis right for me. Ask your doctor if its right for you. Halfway through the most ambitious face transplant surgery ever attempted, doctors have removed the donors face. Face is going to the other room now. Reporter a warning. Some of the footage youre about to see is graphic. Former firefighter pat hardison is lying on the operating table next door. His now exposed face ready for the transplant. When we removed the face and we started going into the other room, its like starting a whole new operation. Everybody ready . Yeah. Reporter lead surgeon dr. Eduardo rodriguez positions the face. He now must quickly get blood circulating to it before the tissue starts to die. Its been without blood flow for almost three hours. Until the face becomes pink my hearts racing. Reporter its an intricate process. Stitching together the blood vessels. Okay. Were open. Reporter then within seconds see the pink . Reporter pats heart is now pumping blood into his new face. The entire face, the scalp, the ears, everything is pink. So at this point im feeling pretty good. But i know that we still have a lot more work ahead of us. Reporter the Surgical Team worked straight through the night. We stabilized the remaining portions of the skeleton. We stabilized the inside lining of the mouth. We secure the eyelids. And now we begin to inset the back of the scalp. Reporter anchoring bones, nerves, muscles, before securing the outer skin. The final sutures in place 26 hours after surgery began. Good job. Congratulations, everyone. Excellent job today. When the surgery was over, what went through your mind . Now you start thinking about whats going to happen. Ironically, now youve entered the danger zone. Correct. Reporter infection is the main concern. Pats immune system is compromised by the antirejection medications hell be on for the rest of his life. Nine days after surgery pat is finally out of bed but has yet to see his new face. Dr. Rod grriguez worries his ne appearance could frighten him. Are you nervous . No. No . Not at all . Do you have any idea what to expect, what its going to look like . So here we go. Here. Give me your hand. Just go ahead and turn that around and just take a close look at it. Let me see a gauze. Reporter he takes in his new reflection for the very first time. You see your hair growing . Can you see your beard . Reporter his hands exploring the strange yet familiar features he thought hed never have again. What do you think about your ears . This is something thats great, right . What do you think of that . Reporter pats recovery is remarkable. After nearly three months his new face taking shape over his own bone structure, phis brow ad cheekbones. Sitting with him face to face 87 days after surgery his scars hidden just under his collar, a 41yearold man with a 26yearold face. How are you feeling . I feel good. How much feeling do you have now in your face, in your head . Its getting better. Some here. Down its still got a ways to go. The swelling and the feeling. But everything else, its coming along. Reporter we were finally able to ask him directly why he was willing to risk everything. I never thought like that. The risk of dying because that never scared me because theres things in life that are way worse than death. There are things in life way worse than death . Yeah. And i had lived like that for 14 years. Reporter even though the speed of his recovery surprises doctors, the frustrating first few weeks postsurgery tests his limits. You had to relearn to swallow, relearn to chew, relearn to talk. I told the doctor in the beginning, i said you do your part, ill do mine. Because this operation was so extensive we did harm his swallowing mechanism. Good job. Again. Wait. Dont run out. Weve had this discussion for a year now. Were just going to keep working. Its like so much, so much better. Reporter pat spends hours every day training. Deep breath. And you know what to do. Reporter fighting for every hint of facial expression. Those muscles from the donor, they do not have any functional input. The nerves are not connected. But if the muscles are perfectly aligned with pats face, his muscles will power the new face. And smile. Reporter doctors say hell get better at smiling, winking, and talking. Pats already overwhelmed by the transformation. Oh, i stare nobodys scaring the kids. Its very emotional. What is that emotion . Is that just i guess thats what they call happy tears. Happy tears. Ive been upset so much over the last 14 years. Because ive had to face it every day. And then now its like people see you. Theres nothing like being just a face in the crowd. Thats all i am. Another face in the crowd. Whats been the hardest part of all this . Being aquway from my kids. Being away from your kids. Love you. Love you. Love you. Miss you. Reporter his kids back in mississippi have yet to see a picture of their dad. Shielding them until hes ready. Packing for new york. Reporter and eight weeks after surgery are you excited about seeing dad . Yes. Scared . No. Anxious . Yes. Excited . Yes. Reporter theyre getting ready to visit him. Were currently descending into new york. Reporter pats nervous about how theyll react when they see his new face for the first time. Im going to knock on the door. Reporter when nightline returns. [cough, cough] mike . Janet . Cough if you can hear me. Dont even think about it. I took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. Yeah. But what about mike . He has that dry scratchy thing going on. Guess what . It works on his cough too. Cough guess what . It works on his cough too. What . Stop dont pull me spoiler alert she doesnt make it only mucinex dm relieves both wet and dry coughs for 12 hours with two medicines in one pill. Start the relief. Ditch the misery. Lets end this. Bounty is two times more absorbent. More sit per roll. So one roll of bounty can last longer than those bargain brands. So you get more life per roll. Bounty. The longlasting quicker picker upper. Pat hardisons kids havent seen their dad in two months. After receiving the most ambitious face transplant ever, hes kept his new appearance hidden from them as hes healed. Seeing my kids. Nothing better than that. Reporter and finally, its time to meet face to face. Right here . Yeah. Hey, dad. I love you. See . Look. Reporter after an emotional embrace they cant help but stare at their dads new features. The whole reason he risked his life now coming into focus. Im looking forward to getting my vision fixed hopefully and loading my kids up and taking them on a vacation to disney world or somewhere just me, my kids and the stuff that we missed out on. You missed out on a lot of their childhood. I did. I hate that. Were fixing to catch up now, though. [ cheers ] reporter and six weeks later, reunited again as he returns home to mississippi. One, two, three. Let me take a couple. Reporter a parade for a home town hero. [ cheers and applause ] but he reserves that honor for the man who made it possible. His donor. Hes the hero. Hes the one because he youre getting emotional. Its emotional when you think about it. That donor and his family gave me this gift. And i can never thank them enough for giving me something as great as this. Something i thought i would never have. Our sincere thanks to Nyu Langone Medical Center and to pat and his entire family. All the best. Thanks for watching abc news. Tune in to Good Morning America tomorrow. And as always, were online 24 7 on our Nightline Facebook page and at abcnews. Com. And at abcnews. Com. Good hello. Raymond . Even better. Im robert, the brwell, hi, im Carol Marshall from humm vac cleaning systems international. Oh, please, come in. Thank you. Ah, you must be raymond. Yeah. Hi. Hi. I spoke to your wife last night about coming by to demonstrate our system. Oh, right. Yeah, oh, the vacuum. I thought she said that we didnt need a new vacuum cleaner. Yeah, she did. I remember because it was right before she told me that i have to go pick up something from somewhere. Oh, you didnt happen to catch any of that, did you . Sorry. Yeah, so, when we spoke last night, things did seem pretty hectic, so, since i happen to be in the neighborhood, i wondered if maybe now might t be a good te to come show you how wonderful the humm vac is, and to offer you this complimentary lint brush. Yeah. I dont know. My wife says im really not supposed to come on, ray. Its complimentary. 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