Transcripts For WPVI Nightline 20151226

This is a special edition of nightline. Brave face. Good evening. Thanks for joining us. Tonight another look inside a medical marvel. An unprecedented and in many ways unbelievable fullface transplant. Its the story of a heroic firefighter, his face burned in a rescue mission. A bmx biker whose generosity of spirit makes it possible. And the topnotch surgeon on the frontier of modern medicine. Three remarkable men whose lives are now forever linked. I got to sit down with the recipient, pat hartisob, and his transformation took my breath away. In a city where people will do almost anything to stand out, pat hartison just wants to blend in. Its really unbelievable all the stuff that you see in new york. My daughters would love it because they could shop forever. Reporter a loving father of five from mississippi who for 14 years now has hidden behind a hat and sunglasses. Im going to have you take off your hat. Reporter that rest on prosthetic ears. Take off your ear forth me for a second. Lets see how these are doing. Reporter pats come to nyu Medical Center to undergo the most extensive face transplant ever attempted. A medical team led by Eduardo Rodriguez has been preparing for this unprecedented surgery for three years. This is a graphic image but it gives you an understanding of everything thats going to be removed. Reporter he warns pat the painstaking procedure to remove his scar tissued face and replace it with a new one could kill him. His chance of surviving just 50 50. The reality is we can make you much worse than you are now. And if this were not to work, weve actually made you worse than you were before. So you completely understand this, right . Oh, yeah. Reporter its a risk pat is more than willing to take. Because for more than a decade pats lived with the scars, both physical and mental, from the fire that tuburned off his face a day just like every other fire. Reporter 2001, pat was a volunteer fireman responding to a house fire. He rushed headlong into the flames to rescue a woman believed to be inside. Went in for a lady. Nobody was sure she was at home. Me and pat were in the bedroom. Everything kind of fell apart. I cant remember. I just remember the ceiling collapsed. Like i could see everything coming down. Reporter pats face was burned so badly the other firefighters didnt know it was him until they loaded him into the many plans. They pulled me down and he said, take care of christie and the kids. Thats when i knew who i had. We closed the door on that ambulance and i figured it was the last time id ever see him alive. When i came back home i was a totally different person. Reporter pat spent 63 days in the hospital recovering from burns that robbed him of his scalp, ear and nose. His eyelid and lips also gone. When he got home his Young Children were terrified. The first time i realized what he had gone through was the first time i saw him. Reporter alison, pats oldest daughter, was just 6 at the time. And i remember going up to the house and my mom and stepdad literally had to drag me in the house because i was scared. Reporter over time his devastated family adjusted. To us he became normal. He looked normal. We didnt think anything of it. Reporter ever the family man, he went on to have two more children. But inside, he was struggling. The guy once known as life of the party became withdrawn, depressed, and began abusing his pain medication. His friends felt helpless. It was hard for me to tell him. Its even harder for him to hear and accept it as the truth. Reporter he endured months of surgeries. Doctors were able to apox mate a mouth, nose, and lips, facing those ears. Look to the left. Look to the right. Reporter but there was nothing they could did about his missing eyelids. Without them pat would go blind. He went through 50, 60, 70 surgeries over a period of three, four, five years. I cant imagine what it does to you mentally. Reporter he was eager to do whatever it took to get his life back. Hopes now pinned on a trail blazing surgeon. There are a lot of pieces that have to come together. Reporter in the emerging field of face transplants. Did he need this surgery in the traditional sense . No. He could have stayed this way as long as he would have lived. However, pat was not living, by our standards. Im that ready. For patients like that its important for us to slow the process down and ensure that they completely understand what theyre getting into. These are great photographs. Reporter dr. Rodriguez need the to manage pat and his familys expectations. What if we do the surgery and everything is reasonably successful, but your expectations are not met . Ill be better than what i am today. Im not saying it would be like i was. You know. 2001. Im saying, get me back normallooking as you can. Reporter nyu langhorn Medical Center would cover the milliondollar procedure in the name of research. I break down about it. I knew it was something he would want to make him feel what woo would call normal again. Reporter but they needed the perfect donor. The wait was excruciating. Day by day, get up every morning, you think is today the day . Next day the same way. He told me he didnt know if he wanted to keep living. We prayed about it. And here we are getting the surgery. Yeah, it was tough. Reporter only possible through a twist of fate that would forever link pat to a man he would never meet. Dave was without a doubt like the best guy you never met. Reporter his name was dave rodebaugh, 26yearold Bike Mechanic who lived in brooklyn, new york. Dave loved to ride. He won this red bullsponsored race last year. Dave was fatally injured biking home from work. His tightknit group of friends memorializing him with a ghost bike at the scene of his accident. Daves mom there for the tribute. Dave matched every criteria pat and his doctors had been waiting for. Age, hair, skin color, blood type, even skeletal measurements. When dave whats mom was asked if shed donate his organs she didnt hesitate. She knew straight away david would have done anything to help. She was told she could never have children and she had david and she felt very much that he was the miracle and that by doing this the miracle would continue. Reporter dave was the perfect donor and his kidneys, liver and heart would save four other lives. The man that got his heart . Id like to meet him and be like, id like you to know that you have a lions heart. Feel good . Reporter a quick hug from his sister and pats wheeled into the o. R. Dr. Rodriguezs plan . Remove whats left of pats scarred face and scalp and replace them with donor tissue, muscles, nerves. The donors body in the room next door where another Surgical Team takes a moment to reflect before surgery. May we now take a moment to honor the life of david ro rodebaugh. Reporter some of the footage youre about to see is graphic. The doctor works on the donor, every step finely choreographed with the team next door. Watches are synchronized, the teams ready to go. Reporter the donors face is slowly and delicately removed, perfectly timed and in sequence. They now begin removing pats face. Theres constant communication. They do not compromise the scalp until i can give confirmation the scalp is viable. They do not take the eyelids until they know ive reached the point of no return because we have to keep pat safe. I keep an eye on the clock at all times to know that were on track with every step of our operation. Reporter eight hours later pats face, which was mostly scar tissue, has been removed. When you take someones entire face off, youre essentially looking at raw tissue. The muscles, the facial expression, the eyeballs are essentially exposed. Reporter pat is just a few feet away from his new face. The transplant can finally begin. Theres a lot of concern in my mind, are we able to deliver this . Weve got one chance to basically land this on the moon perfectly. Reporter when nightline returns. My sister raves about her toothpaste and mouthwash all the time. Im like, huh . Arent they all the same . You know, i had to see for myself. So i went pro. With crest prohealth advanced. Advance to a healthier, stronger, cleaner mouth from day 1. This toothpaste. And mouthwash make my whole mouth feel amazing. And my teeth stronger. Crest prohealth advanced is superior in these 5 areas dentists check. This is gonna go well, for sure. Advance to a healthier stronger, cleaner mouth from day 1. Great check up. My sister was right. How wear doing . Reporter halfway through the most ambitious face transplant surgery ever attempted doctors have removed the donors face. A warning, some of the footage is graphic. Former firefighter pat haddison is lying on the operating table next door, his nowexposed face ready for the transplant. About when we remove the face and start going into the other room its like starting a whole new operation. Everybody ready . Yeah. Yep. Reporter lead surgeon dr. Eduardo rodriguez positions the face. He now must quickly get blood circulating to it before the tissue starts to die. Its been without blood flow for almost three hours. Until the face becomes pink my hearts racing. Reporter its an intricate process stitching together the blood vessels. Then within seconds pats heart is pumping blood into his new face. The entire face, the scalp, the ears, everything, is pink. So at this point im feeling pretty good. But i know that we still have a lot more work ahead of us. Reporter the Surgical Teamworks straight through the night. We stabilize the remaining portions of the skeleton, we stabilize the inside lining of the mouth, we secure the eyelids are now we begin to inset the back of the scalp. Reporter anchoring bones, nerves, muscles, before securing the outer skin the final sutures in place 26 hours after the surgery began. Congratulations, everyone. Excellent job today. When the surgery was over, what went through your mind . Now you start thinking about whats going to happen . Ironically, now youve entered the danger zone. Correct. Reporter infection is the main concern. Pats immune system is compromised by the antirejection medications hell be on for the rest of his. Nine days after surgery, pat is finally out of bed but has yet to see his new face. Dr. Rodriguez worries his new appearance could frighten him. Are you nervous . No, not at all . Do you have any idea what to expect . What its going to look like . So here we go. Here. Give me your hand. Go ahead and just turn that around. Just take a close look at it. Let me see a gauze. Reporter he takes in his new reflection for the very first time. Can you see your hair growing . Can you see your beard . Reporter his hands exploring strange yet familiar features he thought hed never have again. What do you think about the ear, this is great, right . How great is that . Reporter pats recovery is remarkable. After nearly three months his new face taking shape over his own bone structure, his brow and cheekbones. Sitting with him facetoface 87 days after surgery, his scars hidden just under his collar, a 41yearold man with a 26yearold face. How are you feeling . I feel good. How much feeling do you have now in your face in your head . Theres some here now has still got a ways to go. The swelling and the feeling. But everything else, its coming along. Reporter we were finally able to ask him directly why he was willing to risk everything. I never thought like that, the risk of dying, that never scared me. Because there are things in life that are way worse than death. There are things in life way worse than death . Yeah. I had lived like that for 14 years. Reporter even though the speed of his recovery surprises doctors, the frustrating first few weeks postsurgery tests his limits. You had to relearn to swallow, relearn to chew, relearn to talk. I told the Doctor Rodriguez in the beginning, i said, you do your part, ill do mine. Because of this operation was so extensive, we did harm his swallowing mechanism. Wait a minute, dont go now, dont go now. Weve had this discussion for a year now. Were just going to keep working. Its so much better. Reporter pat spends hours every day training. Deep breaths. You know what to do. Reporter fighting for every hint of facial expression. Those muscles from the donor, they do not have any functional input the nerves are not connected. But the muscles are perfectly aligned with pats face. His muscles willpower the new face. And smile. Reporter doctors say hell get better at smiling, winking, talking. Pats already overwhelmed by the transformation. Its very emotional. What is that emotion . Is that just i guess what they call happy tears. Happy tears . Ive been upset so much over the last 14 years. Because ive had to face it every day. Then now its like people see you. Theres nothing like being just a face in the crowd. Thats all gram. Another face in the crowd. Whats been the hardest part of all of this . Being away from my kids. Being away from your kids . Love you. Love you. Love you, miss you. Reporter his kids back in mississippi have yet to see a picture of their dad. Shielding them until hes ready. Pack mustard from new york. Reporter eight weeks after surgery excited about being dad . Yes. Scared, anxious . Yes. Excited . Yes. Reporter theyre getting ready to visit him. Were currently descending into new york. Reporter pats nervous about how theyll react when they see his new face for the first time. Im going to knock on the door. Reporter when nightline returns. I sure had a lot on my mind when i got out of the hospital after a dvt blood clot. What about my family . My lil buddy . And what if this happened again . I was given warfarin in the hospital but i wondered if this was the right treatment for me. Then my doctor told me about eliquis. Eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. Not only does eliquis treat dvt and pe blood clots, but eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. Knowing eliquis had both. Turned around my thinking. Dont stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. If you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. And it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Eliquis treats dvt pe blood clots. Plus had less major bleeding. Both made switching to eliquis right for me. Ask your doctor if its right for you. Just prepping for my bosss party in a couple weeks. What are those . Crest whitestrips. They whiten way better than paste. Crest 3d White Whitestrips whiten 25 times better than a leading whitening toothpaste. Someones making quite an impression. This holiday season, select crest whitestrips are buy one, get one free. Usic another sunny day by belle and sebastian such a shame its labeled a getaway. Life should always feel like this. Hampton. We go together. Always get the lowest price, only when you book direct at hampton. Com pat haddisons kids havent seen their dad in two months. After receiving the most ambitious face transplant ever hes kept his new appearance id hidden from them as hes healed. Seeing my kids. Nothing better than that. Reporter finally its time to meet facetoface. Hey, dad. See . Look. Reporter after an emotional embrace, they cant help but stare at their dads new features. The whole reason he risked his life now coming into focus. Im looking forward to getting my vision fixed hopefully and loading those kids up and taking them on a vacation to disney world or somewhere, just me, my kids, and the stuff that we missed out on. You missed out on a lot of their childhood. I did. I hate that. Were fixing to catch up now, though. Reporter six weeks later, reunited again as he returns home to mississippi. One, two, three. Let me take a couple. Reporter a parade for a hometown hero. But he reserves that honor for the man who made it possible, his donor. Hes the hero. Hes the one. Because he youre getting emotional. Its emotional when you think about it. That donor and his family gave me this gift. And i can never thank them enough for giving me something as great as this. Something i thought i would never have. Our deepest gratitude to nyu langgold Medical Center and to pat and his entire family, all the best. Thanks for watching abc news. Tune into Good Morning America by tomorrow. As always were online 24 7 on our Nightline Facebook page and abcnews. Com. Good night and have a very merry christmas. Need a reason to stick around for the next 30 minutes . I can give you about 1 million of them. Its time to play who wants to be a millionaire. [cheers and applause] [dramatic music] hello, everybody. Im chris harrison, and welcome to the show. You guys ready to play today . [cheers and applause] then lets continue, because we have a returning contestant. Shes a poker player whos planning on winning the 1 million here and then doubling it in vegas. Seems like a sound financial move. From lake elsinore, california, please welcome back julie fields. [cheers and applause] hello. Hey, julie, how you doing . Welcome back. Thank you. Good to see you. Thank you. Uh, welcome back. Again, to recap, youre trying to earn the money here so we can go have fun on your 25th anniversary. Yes. So again congratulations. Thank you. Happy anniversary. Thank you. Um, 5,000, youve reached that threshold last time we were playing. So worst case, youre at least leaving here with 5,000. Its a good bad day if that happens. Right . Its a great bad day. The best bad day. But you can do even better. Youve used one lifeline. You still have two. You have ask the audience, and you have a plus one, which we didnt get a chance to meet. Whos your plus one . Today i brought my daughter, caitlin, with me. Hey, caitlin. Hello. [applause] how old is caitlin . Well, caitlins actually 20. Shes a junior at uc riverside. She gets mistaken a lot foa