The Mayo Clinic has successfully completed a face transplant, allowing the recipient the chance to blink, swallow, smile, and breathe through his nose for the first time in a decade.
The Mayo Clinic, located in Rochester, Minnesota, shared the news of the successful procedure in a report on Tuesday.
Derek Pfaff, a resident of Harbor Beach, Michigan, was the recipient of the transplant and required it after his face was severely damaged by a gunshot on March 5, 2014, while he was in college.
“I was under a lot of pressure at college. I don’t remember making the decision to take my own life. When I woke up in the hospital, I originally thought I had been in a car accident,” Pfaff shared with Mayo Clinic.
Pfaff has undergone 58 reconstructive facial surgeries in the last decade, but before his most recent surgery, he was unable to do simple things like eat solid food, wear glasses, or speak casually with friends and family.
But now, the 30-year-old will be able to do everything he’s missed thanks to his latest, and hopefully last, surgery from Mayo Clinic.
Pfaff’s surgery was performed in February 2024, lasted for more than 50 hours, and involved a medical team of at least 80 healthcare professionals. This included surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, technicians, assistants, and other specialists. The surgery reportedly took months of planning to ensure everything was precise and accurate.
Mayo Clinic shared that face transplants have been done for nearly two decades, and since the first was performed, more than 50 have been done around the world. Mayo Clinic performed its first face transplant in 2016.
The success rate for the surgeries also remains high, as a JAMA surgery study reported that for those who have received facial transplants, 85% go on to live at least 5 years, and 74% go on to live at least 10 years.
Dr. Samir Mardini led the team responsible for completing Pfaff’s facial transplant. He estimated that 85% of his face, including the mandible and maxilla, were reconstructed and replaced with donor tissue.
Mardini shared that this surgery isn’t like any other transplant.
“Most organ transplants are lifesaving. With facial transplantation, it’s a life-giving operation. You can live without it, but you are missing out on life,” Dr. Mardini said.