The life story of Patrick Hardison from Mississippi is nothing less than a mind-blowing one. This man is the first American who has received a face transplant back in 2015 after his face and neck were left completely disfigured during a house fire.
Patrick’s life was a great one up until the day the tragedy struck in 2001.
He worked as a volunteer firefighter earlier in his life, so when he got called to help with a house fire, he didn’t hesitate. Sadly, once he entered the burning place, it collapsed on top of him and trapped him. He couldn’t move and his torso and face were severely burnt.
“[My mask] was melting to my face,” Patrick recalled. “My hose [was] already melted.”
“For somebody who does what we do for a living, I’ve never seen anybody burned that bad that was still alive,” friend and first responder Jimmy Neal told CBS News of seeing Patrick after the accident.
Patrick suffered third degree burns on his face and scalp. He also sustained burns to his head, neck, and upper torso. The fire also claimed his ears, lips, most of his nose, and even most of his eyelid tissue.
“I didn’t actually see myself until probably November. I got injured in September,” Patrick told Fox News. “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,’” he recalled.
Over the years, this man was forced to undergo over 70 surgeries, as well as other procedures. He couldn’t close his eyes and doctors were able to put together flaps of skin to protect his vision, but he was still facing the risk of going blind.
Patrick couldn’t eat without feeling excruciating pain. He just couldn’t get used to this life because he couldn’t look at himself in the mirror. Wherever he went, everyone starred at him, and he could barely stand being around people, even his children.
In order to hide and protect himself, Patrick wore sunglasses and a baseball cap all the time. He also had ear prosthetic.
“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,” he told Yahoo! Sports.
“You go to the ball field, you have to prepare yourself for the kid that goes running off screaming.”
Years went by and Patrick lost hope of ever having a normal life. But then, French woman named Isabelle Dinoire received a partial face transplant after her face was severely disfigured by her pet dog. This procedure was revolutionary. It was the first ever of that kind. Surely, it gave a glimpse of hope to Patrick who at that point was truly struggling.
Patrick met doctor Eduardo D. Rodriguez from the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York who told him he would do the transplant surgery if they find a matching donor. It wasn’t easy, but one day, out of the blue, a donor appeared. LiveOnNY, a nonprofit that coordinates organ donations in the New York area, had found a match. The face Patrick was about to get belonged to 26-year-old David Rodebaugh who had sustained a massive head injury in a bike accident and had been declared brain dead.
This young man’s mother, Nancy Millar, decided to donate her son’s organs, including his face. “I said, ‘You better save his face. He has the face of a porcelain doll.’ And he’s a donor — we had talked about it,” Millar told People.
The thought of someone receiving her son’s face meant that David would continue to live on through the people whose lives he was about to save, including Patrick’s.
“When I met Patrick, I saw this strength, this strong, manly, burly kind of energy in him — that David had,” Nancy recalled.
“David wanted to be a firefighter, an I knew if this guy was a firefighter — he was willing to walk into a fire to save people and risk his own life — then he had the strength that David had.”
Finally, the day of the transplant surgery had arrived. The procedure lasted for 26 long hours and was performed by a team of 100 professionals.
The risk was enormous and Patrick was given a 50/50 percent chance of survival. Luckily, it was a huge success. Patrick received a new face, scalp, ears, and ear canals. He also received eyelids which allowed him to blink naturally and save his vision.
“Everything in life has a risk,” Patrick told Time Magazine.
“When it’s your time to go, you’ll go—whether you’re walking down the street and get hit by a car or you’re lying on the operating table.”
After he recovered from the swelling and he learned how to talk and swallow again, Patrick met his donor’s mother. Nancy only had one request, to kiss Patrick on the forehead.
“I said, ‘Can I kiss your forehead?’” Nancy said. “That’s the one thing I wanted to do because every night before David went to bed when he was little, I kissed his forehead.”
“I’ve been waiting a year to meet her. I’m just very grateful,” Patrick added. “Without her, it wouldn’t have been possible. It’s like she’s family. We connected that easily.”
Ever since the surgery, Patrick is taking anti-rejection drugs that prevent his immune system from rejecting the face, but he’s thriving. He didn’t only receive a new face but a new life too.
Today, he is divorced and is working on a book which he hopes would serve as an inspiration to anyone who believes there is no way out from the situation they have found themselves in. “Because I want to show the world that you can have hope. I wouldn’t want people that were like me years ago to think that’s it, I have to live like this. You don’t. You can accomplish anything,” Patrick says.
His survival and his recovery are dubbed miraculous. Thanks to Nancy, Dr. Rodriguez and his team, and Patrick’s strong will, today, he is a happy man.
If you spot these mysterious black dots in your kitchen, you had better know what they mean
Can a spider poo? A mother turned to Facebook seeking guidance as she expressed her confusion over discovering a set of black droppings scattered throughout her home. Posting on a Mrs. Hinch fan page, she shared a series of images revealing peculiar black specks along her skirting board and wall.
“Anyone have any idea what this is?” She asked. “Just appeared this last week or so on the skirting board in my dining room, also bits on the wallpaper and the floor which gets mopped every day! It’s not bumpy, it looks like some sort of paint splatter but it isn’t.” She continued.
Followers came back with a common answer – Spider Poo
Fellow enthusiasts of Mrs. Hinch promptly came to the rescue, with users confidently asserting that the markings were indeed spider droppings. One wrote: “It happens a lot this time of year, spiders pooing everywhere, Dettox spray is good for it.” While another said: “It’s spider poo after they’ve eaten flies. I get it on my window sill.” Others said it could have been “fly poo” while one user was adamant, it was “spider poo for defs”.
What do the experts say?
According to various sources offering advice on pests, spiders typically do not leave solid droppings; instead, their excrement is thick and liquid in consistency, resembling dark ink stains. These markings often appear on walls and surfaces.
Spider feces are not solid; instead, they appear as dark stains or drips on walls and surfaces. The specific appearance of the droppings varies among spider species, making it challenging for the untrained eye to distinguish.
Typically, spider poop accumulates in a specific location below their web, often in corners with cobwebs on walls. Since spiders seek dark or undisturbed places for refuge, their droppings may unexpectedly appear in various locations. The size of spider droppings is approximately that of a pinhead, and they exhibit a monotone color, with variations in white, black, gray, or brown hues.
Is spider poo dangerous to handle?
While spider poop is not proven to transmit pathogens, it is advisable to treat it with caution and handle it as if it were potentially toxic. Studies indicate that pathogens ingested by spiders do not typically pass on through their droppings.
Nevertheless, it’s important to exercise caution and thoroughly wash hands with soap and water after handling spider feces. Cleaning fresh spider droppings is easier, while dried ones may require more effort to remove and may leave behind yellow stains.
It’s essential to note that cleaning up spider poop does not eliminate the spiders responsible for it. To prevent the reappearance of droppings, taking action against these creatures is necessary. Maintaining a highly tidy environment and removing every spider web you encounter is a good starting point. There are also products available to assist with infestations, and professional pest control services are well-equipped to handle such situations.
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