In July 2018, Dimeo, then 20, fell asleep at the wheel of his car on Route 22 in New Jersey. He lost control and the car hit the curb, overturning before going up in flames.
A passerby pulled him out of the car before it exploded, but Dimeo still sustained third-degree burns on nearly 80% of his body. The damage was so severe that, although Dimeo survived, he lacked eyelids, ears, and many of his fingers. He also had severe scars on his face and neck that limited his range of motion. The scars even partially covered his eyes.
His independence was taken away from him in an instant.
On Wednesday, doctors at NYU Langone Medical Center announced that after 23 grueling hours of surgery, Dimeo, now 22, was on his way to reclaiming his life as the recipient of the world’s first successful face and hand transplant.
“He is the most motivated patient I’ve ever met,” said Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, head of the team that completed the unprecedented operation, to reporters in a newsletter on Wednesday.
Although the surgery took place in August last year, Dimeo’s doctors waited to make sure the transplants weren’t rejected before calling the surgery a success.
“More than 100 hand transplants and nearly 50 face transplants have been successfully performed,” said Rodriguez. “So fundamentally there was no reason they couldn’t perform together, with success.”
There have been only two previous attempts to complete such surgery – to transplant a patient’s face and both hands – worldwide. Both were unsuccessful.
“We had to prevent infection, we had to get this surgery done as soon as possible, we had to be very selective with the donor and we had to implement all the advanced technology that would ensure the full success of Joe’s operation, which is exactly what we did.”
“Joe is healthy, he is young, he is strong, he likes sports, he eats healthy and he had that one special element that will be needed for this surgery,” said Rodriguez, “a high degree of motivation. a tremendous sense of hope. “
The operation required 80 people, divided between six surgical teams and two adjacent operating rooms.
In one, the hands and facial tissue of a dying donor were carefully removed and replaced with 3D-printed prostheses.
“We always start the operation with a moment of silence to honor the donor family, to respect their great loss and never to forget the donations that have been made,” said Rodriguez. “In all these operations, it is important to recognize that someone has to give up their life so that others can live.”
In the other operating room, Dimeo’s own hands and face were precisely cut to prepare him for the donor tissue.
The surgery was one that could very well have ended Dimeo’s life had it not been done correctly, Rodriguez said.
Dimeo’s arms carefully cut every radius and ulna, along with a variety of tendons, muscles, veins, and nerves, to prepare him for the new limbs. The right hand, Dimeo’s dominant hand, came first. Then left.
“We need to replace 21 tendons, three major nerves, five major blood vessels, two major bones,” Rodriguez said of each hand. Each structure had to be labeled, he added, to ensure correct reassembly.
After Dimeo’s face was removed, plates were placed on his chin to help suture his new face, and the donor’s bridge of the nose was grafted in place of his own. Nerves and vasculature were split together to bring blood and eventually sensation into the tissue.
The last suture was made after 23 hours of operation. Forty-five days in intensive care followed, followed by nearly two months of inpatient rehabilitation. Dimeo learned to open his new eyelids, move his new hands, and smile.
On Wednesday, Dimeo’s hands were completely his as he fished a written statement from the breast pocket of a sports jacket and held it up in front of newly opened eyes to read.
“I want to share my story to give people hope in the world,” he said.
“I would like to acknowledge my donor’s selflessness, and how none of this would be possible without his sacrifice,” said Dimeo. “Thank you.”
When asked how he felt in recent months of rehab, Dimeo said he felt he had been given a “ second chance at life. ”
“There is no excuse for not being motivated or for not doing my therapy,” he said
“My hands are not there yet. I have to keep practicing,” he added.
“It’s like when you’re a baby, they just move their hands all the time until they get the ability to do things. I have new hands now, just like them,” he said.
“There is always a light at the end of the tunnel,” Dimeo said. “You never give up.”