140 medical staff who made miracles of young Americans saved their faces and hands melted in fire [영상]

A young man in his twenties, whose face and fingers were’melted’ by the burn, was able to laugh again. The world’s first surgery to implant both hands and face at the same time was successful.

The main character is Joe Dimeo, a 22-year-old New Jersey male. According to Reuters and CNN, he suffered a car explosion on Route 22 in New Jersey in July 2018. It was on my way back from my late night shift. I flickered while driving, and the vehicle turned over. The car was immediately caught in flames.

Fortunately, Dimeo saved his life. This is thanks to pedestrians taking it out of the vehicle before the explosion occurred. However, he suffered a third degree burn all over his body. And my eyelids, ears, and fingers melted away. I have been in a coma for more than 3 months. I finally found consciousness, but my eyes were stuck, I couldn’t use my hands, and I couldn’t make any expressions.

In August of last year, two years after the incident, he underwent 23 hours of surgery at the New York University Medical Center. Half a year later, the medical staff concluded that the operation was successful and informed the world about this on the 3rd. He has not yet succeeded in transplanting both the face and both hands at the same time, but he was the first case.

Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, who led the surgery, said, “The simultaneous transplantation has been attempted twice before, but both failed.” “We tried to use state-of-the-art technology to get the surgery done as quickly as possible to avoid infection, the biggest risk.” The medical staff said that the patient’s strong will to recover was a factor that led to the success of the surgery.

140 medical staff made up of six teams were put into operation. Dimeo went through two adjacent operating rooms to undergo a transplant. It was a major surgery to replace 21 tendons, 3 major nerves, 5 major blood vessels, and 2 major bones.

After surgery, Dimeo is practicing how to raise his eyelids, move his hands, and smile. He said, “I got a second chance of life,” and said, “It would have been impossible without the help of the donors.”

He was particularly pleased that the hand that had been swallowed by the flames had reappeared. As before, it will take time to use it freely, but I promised, “I will continue to move and practice as if I had returned to my baby as I got a new hand.”

Finally, he said, “There is always light at the end of the tunnel. I hope you never give up.” He delivered a’message of hope’ to everyone who would hear his story.

Reporter Jeong Eun-hye [email protected]