After a bullet destroyed his face ten years ago, Andrew Sandness attempted suicide by shooting himself with a rifle. The gunshot affected almost every nerve below his eyes. Andrew Sandness - "I was stupid. I made the wrong choice. And now I'm paying for it for the rest of my life". In summer 2016, he got the opportunity of a lifetime to have a near total facial transplant at the Mayo Clinic. The process was extremely intricate.
"A face transplantation is a combination of so many other procedures that we do, including eyelid surgery, jaw surgery, facial nerve surgery" says Dr. Samir Mardini, surgical director of Mayo Clinic.
Doctors from all different fields came together to figure out the best way to preserve facial nerves in both Sandness and the donor. "It's extremely exciting, and even before we enlisted our first patient, it was really a very growing experience to see so many different disciplines come together" - Dr. Hatem Amer, Medical Director. The surgery lasted 56 hours and required 9 surgeons and 40 staff members. They even used 3D models to ensure a seamless transition.
"Using this technology of 3D modelling, printing, our virtual surgery plan ning is extremely beneficial. They would have cutting guides for us that we would clip on the bones that would give us the exact location of the cut, exact angle of the cut, so when we took the donor's face and put it on the recipient, it would fit perfectly. Far exceeded my expections. You don't know how happy that makes me feel" says Dr. Samir Mardini He now has a lifetime of medication and monitoring ahead but he says he is beyond grateful for this gift.
"Without the doctors and the donor's family, none of this is possible. I'm just looking forward to getting back out in the world and doing the things I missed out on. I missed out on 10 years of my life. I'm really excited. And now, with this transplant, I just feel more comfortable and more confident in doing these things" says Sandness.
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