‘This is the best decision I’ve ever made,’ says soldier, second full-face transplant in US history

A former soldier, the second man in US history to have a face transplant, says it was “the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Mitch Hunter of Indiana, Indiana, had a face transplant in 2011, ten years after a car he was in crashed into a 10,000-volt light pole.

After pulling a female passenger from the electric current, she continuously pumped it into her body, especially her face, for five minutes.

Mr. Hunter, now 42, was forced to stay in the hospital for two months, undergoing 67 facial reconstructive surgeries and having part of his right leg amputated due to severe burns.

Ten years after the accident, Mr. Hunter was the second person in the United States to have a face transplant performed to prevent children from screaming when they saw him on the street.

She got her face from a donor – a missing man – and has now fully revealed her incredible transformation.

“The transplant was the best decision of my life and helped me put the accident behind me and finally move on with my life,” said Mr Hunter.

Mr. Hunter, now 42, became the second person to have a face transplant in the United States in 2011 to prevent children from screaming when they see him on the street. It took five months for the swelling to subside, and the true features of the facial features emerged.

“The transplant was the best decision of my life and helped me get past the accident and finally move on with my life,” said Mr Hunter.

Hunter (pre-accident photo) was in a car on a North Carolina highway with his boyfriend and friend’s girlfriend when his friend lost control and crashed into a cage.

He said: “I can barely remember when the wires hit my face.

“One minute I was helping the injured girl who was trying to get her off the mast, the next minute I was in the hospital almost a month later.

“I knew my wounds were bad as they often hated each other when my mother and stepmother were comforting each other in the room.

“No one showed me a mirror for a few days, until then my ex-girlfriend came to see me.

“I can’t describe the feeling I felt when I saw myself like this, it wasn’t real, I was unrecognizable.

“The girl I rescued only had minor burns on her foot, but she had burns every inch of her face, hands and right leg.

“The burn on my leg was so bad that I had to have an amputation just below the knee.

“I couldn’t believe how drastically my life had changed in just a few minutes.”

Hunter was in a car with his boyfriend and friend’s girlfriend on a North Carolina highway when his friend lost control and crashed into a cage.

The girl jumped out of the car and crashed into one of the falling lines. After Mr. Hunter drove him away, an electric current ran through him.

In 2011, Mr. Hunter underwent a face transplant after getting the green light from Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. Nearly 30 doctors spent more than 14 hours reconstructing his face during risky surgery.

The procedure involved microvascular surgery to connect the two major arteries to the new face so that his heart could start supplying him with blood. Hunter’s new face comes entirely from an organ donor, including the skin, soft tissue and cartilage of his nose, beard and eyebrows.

Mr Hunter said, “I made the decision for my children because I didn’t want to be the reason they were bullied or ostracized at school. “It’s scary to have people screaming in your eyes and I couldn’t have imagined that happening with my own children. The transplant was the best decision of my life and helped me get over the accident and finally move on with my life.”

Mr. Hunter woke up 27 days after the accident, surrounded by his family with no memory of the accident.

He needed 20 skin grafts on his leg and back to treat the “melted” skin on his face and neck.

Mr Hunter and his girlfriend moved on with their lives, focusing on her recovery after her first facial surgeries involving skin grafts available at the time.

But when his girlfriend got pregnant, Mr. Hunter started looking for new innovations so that his children wouldn’t be afraid of him.

In 2011, only two successful face transplants were performed in the United States and 10 worldwide. There are currently around 50 shows worldwide.

That year, after getting the green light from Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, she underwent a face transplant.

Nearly 30 doctors spent more than 14 hours reconstructing his face during risky surgery.

He needed microvascular surgery to connect the two major arteries to the new face so his heart could start supplying him with blood.

Mr. Hunter’s new face came entirely from an organ donor, including the skin, soft tissue and cartilage of his nose, beard and eyebrows.

It took five months for the swelling to subside, and the true features of the facial features emerged.

Hunter said he had the transplant “because he didn’t want his children to be ashamed of him in the future”.

Now he is unrecognizable with his full beard and a sense of fullness on his face.

Mr Hunter said: “Strangely enough, I can grow a beard that once belonged to a donor, which is really weird!

“I made the decision for my kids because I didn’t want to be the reason they were bullied or ostracized at school.

“Making people scream at your eyes is creepy and I wouldn’t have imagined that happening with my own children.

“The transplant was the best decision of my life and helped me get over the accident and finally move on with my life.”