In July 2018, Dimeo, 20 at the time, fell asleep behind the wheel of his car on Route 22 in New Jersey. He lost control and the car hit the curb, tipping over before it burst into flames.
A passerby pulled him out of the car before it exploded, but Dimeo still suffered third degree burns on almost 80% of his body. The damage was so severe that, although Dimeo survived, he was left without eyelids, ears and most of his fingers. He also had severe scars on his face and neck that limited his range of motion. The scars 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 exhausting hours of surgery, Dimeo, now 22, was on his way to regain his life as the recipient of the first successful face and hand transplant. world.
“He is the most motivated patient I have ever met,” Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, head of the team that completed the unprecedented surgery, told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday.
Although the surgery took place in August last year, Dimeo’s doctors waited to ensure that the transplants were not rejected before declaring the operation a success.
“More than one hundred hand transplants have been successfully performed and about 50 face transplants,” said Rodriguez. “So, fundamentally, there was no reason why they didn’t happen together, successfully.”
There have been only two previous attempts to complete this surgery – to transplant a patient’s face and both hands – in the world. Both were unsuccessful.
“We needed to avoid infection, we needed this operation to happen as quickly as possible, we had to be very selective with the donor and we had to implement all the cutting edge technologies that would guarantee the total success of Joe’s operation, and that is exactly what we did. “
“Joe is healthy, he is young, he is strong, he loves to exercise, he eats healthy and he had that special element that will be needed for this operation,” said Rodriguez, “A high level of motivation. And he had a tremendous sense of hope. “
The operation took 80 people in 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 started the operation with a moment of silence to honor the donor’s family, to respect his great loss, to never forget the donations that were made,” said Rodriguez. “In all of these operations, it is important to recognize that someone must give up their life so that others can continue to live.”
In the other operating room, Dimeo’s own hands and face were removed with precise cuts to prepare him for donor tissue.
The operation could very well have ended Dimeo’s life if it were not done correctly, said Rodriguez.
In Dimeo’s arms, each bone of the radius and ulna was carefully cut, along with a series of tendons, muscles, veins and nerves, to prepare it for the new members. The right hand, Dimeo’s dominant hand, came first. Then the left.
“We have to replace 21 tendons, three main nerves, five main vessels, two main bones,” said Rodriguez about each hand. Each structure had to be labeled, he added, to ensure proper reassembly.
After Dimeo’s face was removed, small plaques were placed on his chin to help fix his new face, and the donor’s nose bridge was grafted in his place. The nerves and the vasculature were joined, to bring blood and, finally, sensation to the tissue.
After 23 hours of surgery, the final stop was made. Forty-five days in intensive care followed, followed by almost two months of hospitalization in rehabilitation, Dimeo learned to open his new eyelids, to move his new hands and to smile.
On Wednesday, Dimeo’s hands were all his as he fished out a written statement from the pocket of a sport coat shirt and held it up to read in front of newly opened eyes.
“I want to share my story to give hope to people 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.”
Asked how he felt over the past few months of rehab, Dimeo said he felt he had received a “second chance at life”.
“There is no excuse for not being motivated or not doing my therapy,” he said
“My hands are still not there. I have to keep practicing,” he added.
“It’s like when you’re a baby, they’re just moving their hands all the time until they acquire the ability to do things. I have new hands now, just like them,” he said.
“There is always light at the end of the tunnel,” said Dimeo. “Never give up.”