Firefighter who lost most of his face in 2001 says would run into the blaze again

Patrick Hardison, a 47-year-old firefighter, in 2001 suffered burns to his head, neck, and upper torso after a burning building had collapsed. In 2016, he got the world’s most expensive face transplant and now, Patrick Hardison, despite undergoing 71 operations, has said he would run into the blaze again.

The volunteer firefighter had lost his ears, lips, the majority of his nose, and most of his eyelid tissue while rescuing a trapped woman from the building in Senatobia, Mississippi.

Patrick Hardison said he “hates that he can’t do it now” as it was “the greatest job in the world,” despite not even getting paid for it.

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Speaking at a talk show on Fox News, Patrick said, “I could still talk, I could still communicate. I never thought it was as bad as what it was, even when my friends would come and get all upset I would say man just chill out, I got this.”

The father of five had undergone a 26-hour operation that was performed by a team of 100 medics in 2016.

“I didn’t actually see myself until probably November. I got injured in September,” Patrick said.

The 47-year-old added, “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.”

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Patrick spoke about his struggle to come to terms with his new appearance amid stares from strangers and startling young children.

Talking about his struggle to come to terms with his new appearance, he said, “I had kids. It was just a tough time. I never got a day off from the injury. When you walk out in public, it was daily. And, you know, it’s just so – there’s no way to explain everything.”

Five years after his surgery, Patrick is almost unrecognisable – and said he wants to use his experience to encourage others with debilitating injuries.

The surgery, the most extensive soft tissue face transplant ever recorded, reached from the top of Patrick’s head to his collar bones as the 47-year-old was given the face of 26-year-old David Rodebaugh who lost his life in a cycling accident that year.