you were willing to risk your life. but you also knew that this would advance medical science. i never had any doubt. i mean, from day one i told dr. rodriguez, whatever it takes, let s get it done. gentlemen has five children and i need him to understand that this operation could kill you and you could leave your children without their father. sean: was there any hesitancy? no hesitation. on the morning of the operation, with our entire team ready to go, i asked him once again, patrick, are you sure you want to do this? i will call off the whole thing right now. i do not want you to feel bad about this. on all instances, no hesitation, i need this. let s move forward. . sean: what does it feel like for you? you re also in this game. you re not in medicine to use lives, you re in medicine to save lives.
prosthetics, life-changing for these men and women that thought they d never walk again. and that was the motivation to create a better solution for the wounded warrior, and that s where it all began. and we felt, can we give them a new face, but not just soft tissue, can we replace the bones? can we replace the bones with the teeth? and can we replace the bones with the teeth and tongue and all face and connect all the nerves? it hadn t been done before we started and now look at where we are. it s a reality. and that new reality is changing and saving lives. in 2015, dr. rodriguez, well, he pushed things even further performing the most extensive face transplant ever attempted. patrick was a volunteer fire fighter from mississippi. volunteer fireman. greatest job in the world. sean: you don t even get paid for it. well you do what you love. sean: in 2001 he ran into a
burning building to rescue a woman that was trapped inside. suddenly the burning roof collapsed directly onto patrick s head. roof collapsed on patrick knocking down his helmet. he felt the mask on his face was melting. sean: patrick held his breath. he jumped out of a window with his melting face mask clinging to his face. it exclaimed his scalp, his nose, his lips, his ears his eyelids and all the skin on his face. i remember everything from getting in the ambulance to the helicopter. don t remember very much after that. sean: he was burned so badly that his fellow fire fighters, they couldn t even tell who it was. i had no idea who i had until we put him in the rest and he pulled it down over his face and had the picture with the kids. that s when i knew who i had. i mean, it was a rotten dam day.