Back in 2001, then-27-year-old volunteer firefighter Patrick Hardison lost his nose, lips, eyelids and nose due to facial burns after entering a burning house in Mississippi to save a woman. Since then, he’s had over 70 surgeries, but his latest is the most groundbreaking.

Dr. Eduardo D. Rodriguez at NYU Langone Medical Center completed the most complex face transplant ever for the now-41-year-old Hardison in August, and he is healing amazingly. Find out how they did it below!

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