The World's First Eye and Face Transplant

Irene Nguyen, 11/4/24

Technology advancement has come a long way from the antediluvian ages to the present time. In the medical world, innovations are highly valued, and their existence can potentially change so many lives of valetudinarians. 

Aaron James, a man who received the world’s first eye and face transplant said it changed his life, his sense of confidence, feel, taste, and sensory abilities, and has opened up mileage for him. Although his artificial eye can’t see light, his body is getting accustomed to the transplant which was an unprecedented and fortuitous event that rarely came from surgical implants. 

In June 2021, an accident had broken out from the electrical components that adversely affected James and his salubriousness. James was a 47-year-old electrical lineman. During his work, he was severely injured with his left eye, chin, nose, lips, and left arm damaged from electrical burns. James then went on as a convalescent trying to make progress on his injuries but his appearance made him despondent. James, for a long time, couldn’t smell the aroma or taste the flavor of anything. He felt alienated as strangers would give him a glance of abhorrence on the streets and that was because he wasn’t his old self again. The mirror that once reflected him has now reflected someone else’s, leaving James with a Gordian knot of complex feelings. The recovery was rough, not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well. The air of melancholy began to follow James, but that was until he was given the chance to revamp his life through surgery and transplants.  

In May 2023, the medical team at NYU Langone Health in New York City performed surgery on him by partially recovering his face and transplanting a contrived eye in him. The medical team of 140 staff members fiducial and prolific worked to help James regain his sense of individuality again. 

James' gaiety after the surgery was profound as he even commented that he couldn’t stop looking in the mirror at himself. James was at first dithered on whether he should get the surgery and implants. His ambivalent feelings on the matter were understandable because the surgery did not guarantee full success and his body might reject constituents that are not inherent to its own. However, his consternation soon placated itself because the implant was a miracle and exceeded than what was anticipated.  

An eye transplant is no easy feat because it is a labyrinthian of an organ that is difficult to integrate. In most cases, the eye of the recipient would deteriorate and start to shrink in size. However, in James' case, the eye that is transplanted is round which indicates that the eye is producing its own fluids and blood is being delivered, nurturing itself. 

"It is nice and round, so it is not shriveled or shrunk at all. And what that tells us is that the eye is receiving a good enough blood supply that it can make its own fluid, just like our body can make blood from bone marrow. And so the eye is sustaining itself." Said Dr. Vaidehi Dedania, an ophthalmologist at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. 

The appearance of James, what used to be his foible and the parts where he tries to hide have now become constituents of his character. The paramount of technological advances in the medical field has ameliorated the lives of many patients, enhanced health care treatment, and has proven, with its innovation, to give sufferers a new chance at life. 

References 

Sheena Goodyear (Sept 11, 2024). “Man who received world's 1st eye and face transplant says it changed his life”. Retrieved Oct 11, 2024, from https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/first-whole-eye-transplant-1.7320538