Patrick Hardison, a volunteer firefighter from Mississippi, suffered severe burns in 2001 when a house collapsed on him during a fire. “[My mask] was melting to my face,” he recalled. The accident left him without ears, lips, eyelids, or most of his nose. “I looked in the mirror and said, ‘This is it? I can’t do this,’” Patrick remembered. Despite 71 surgeries, he couldn’t blink or smile and lived behind a cap and sunglasses, saying, “You go to the ball field, you have to prepare yourself for the kid that goes running off screaming.”

In 2015, doctors at NYU Langone Medical Center performed the most extensive face transplant ever attempted — a 26-hour operation involving over 100 specialists. Patrick had only a 50/50 chance of survival. His donor, 26-year-old David Rodebaugh, had died in a bike accident. “He has the face of a porcelain doll,” said David’s mother, who chose to donate his face.

After surgery, Patrick endured swelling, anxiety, and relearning how to speak and swallow, but the results were miraculous. “They have given me more than a new face. They have given me a new life,” he said. Now, Patrick uses his story to inspire others: “You can accomplish anything.”