PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Delaware donor has given a North Jersey man another chance at life.
Earlier this week, doctors in New York announced the first successful face and double-hand transplant in U.S. history.
Joe DiMeo, 22, suffered burns across more than 80% of his body in a 2018 car crash.
The donor’s name has not been released. Richard Hasz, vice president of clinical services for the Philadelphia-based Gift of Life Donor Program, said he was a Delaware man in his 40s who loved football and helping special needs children. His gift will leave a lasting legacy for his family.
“His mother said she just wanted us to know how proud she was of her son, that he could save lives through donation, and ‘he will always be my angel,’ ” said Hasz.
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The doctor who led the transplant team at NYU Langone Health said finding a donor for DiMeo was like finding a needle in a haystack. Dimeo had only a 6% chance of finding a match.
“It’s so rare to match skin tone, to match size,” Hasz said. “They have to find a family who’s willing to donate both the face and the hands.”
Gift of Life coordinators found the Delaware man’s family last August — about 10 months after NYU Langone Health expanded its donor search to include the entire nation. Hasz said they were proud to be a part of the history-making procedure, “but it all starts with the donor family,” he added.
Gift of Life previously helped coordinate the first African-American full face transplant and the first double-hand pediatric transplant.