But just five months later in June, a donor came.
21-year-old Calen ‘Rudy’ Ross from Fula, Minnesota, had fatally shot himself in the head. He and his 19-year-old wife, Lily, were newly married, and she was eight months pregnant with their child.
Calen had been an organ donor—as indicated on his driver’s license—and being a young and healthy 21-year-old, his heart, lungs, liver and kidneys were donated.
It turned out Calen was also a good match for a suicide survivor awaiting a face transplant.
When approached about the donation, Lily admits she was skeptical at first. “I didn’t want to walk around and all of a sudden see Calen.”
Doctors reassured her that the transplant receiver would not be recognizable as her husband, and extensive tests confirmed that Calen and Andy were a great match.
Dr. Mardini said that doctors were stunned to see how close the two men were in hair and skin color, and just their overall appearance. “It could be his cousin.”
On June 16, 2016, Andy was wheeled into surgery where Dr. Mardini said to him, “We’re looking forward to seeing you with a new face.”
More than 60 surgeons and nurses embarked on what would be a 56-hour marathon surgery, which began around midnight on Friday, and ended early Monday morning.
Reconstruction went far beyond just taking Calen’s face and putting it on Andy. Doctors identified facial nerve branches on both men and made correct transfers so that when Andy tries to smile, the movements actually happen.
Dr. Mardini claims the surgery was a miracle.
Andy was sedated for several days following the marathon surgery, and was not allowed to see himself for almost three weeks. Mirrors in his room and his cell phone were removed.
When he finally did see his face for the first time, it was indescribable, and overwhelmingly emotional.
As Andy sat in his hospital bed, he still couldn’t speak, so he wrote these four words on a notebook: “Far exceeded my expectations.”
Dr. Samir. proudly read the note to everyone there.
“Once you lose something that you’ve had forever, you know what it’s like not to have it,” said Andy. “And once you get a second chance to have it back, you never forget it.”
Andy says it’s a blessing just to have a mouth and nose. “The looks are just a bonus.”
Months before the surgery, both Andy and Lily Ross had expressed interest in learning more about each other. She particularly wanted Andy to know about her husband.
Lily described her high school sweetheart as a “giving person,” who loved hunting, trapping and being with his dog. She explained that she agreed to allow Calen to be the donor for Andy’s face transplant so that she could one day show their son, Leonard, the ways his dad was able to help someone.
Andy and Lily hope to meet each other one day, but until then, Lily was able to see before-and after photos of the man who received her husband’s face.
“It was amazing how good he looked and how well he’s doing,” she says. “I’m excited for him that he’s getting his life back.”
In December, a full decade since he’d had the face he was born with, Andy had a follow-up surgery to tighten skin on his face and neck. His facial muscles are continuing to grow strong, and he’s gone through speech therapy to learn how to properly use his tongue and jaw.
He’s thrilled to smell again, breathe normally and be eating foods that were off-limits for a decade—apples, steak and pizza.
Andy says he knows the exact day he felt “normal” again. He was in an elevator, and a little boy looked up at him without appearing scared, or saying a word to his mother. “I knew then,” he says, “that the surgery was a success.”
