Warning: Contains images some readers may find upsetting
A former soldier who was involved in a terrible accident has shown the remarkable transformation he has made since having a face transplant. Honestly, check out the video below because it is pretty incredible.
42-year-old Mitch Hunter has hailed his surgery as ‘the best decision [he] ever made’ and can hardly believe how good it looks.
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He was just 21 when he was involved in a car crash after a night out, crashing into an electrical pylon carrying 10,000 volts.
Shoving a female passenger out of the way, he suffered severe burns to his face, hands, and leg. He endured the pain of the electrical current for five full minutes, he claims.
After two months on hospital he was released, but has since had 67 facial reconstruction surgeries.
Now, around a decade later, he became only the second person in the USA to have a face transplant.
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After receiving his donor face from a dead person, he has now shown off the full extent of his transformation.
Mitch, from Indiana, said: "I barely remember anything from when the wires touched my face. One minute I was helping the injured girl trying to get her away from the pole, the next I was in hospital nearly a month later.
"I knew my injuries were serious when my mum and step mum were in the room consoling one another because they usually hated each other.
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"For a few days no one would show me a mirror, until my ex girlfriend at the time came to visit and brought one with her.
"I can't describe the feeling I had when seeing myself like that, it didn't feel real - I was unrecognisable.
"The girl I saved only had minor burns to her foot, but I suffered full thickness burns on every inch of my face along with my hands and right leg.
"The burn on my leg was so severe I was also forced to have a below the knee amputation.
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"I couldn't believe how drastically my life had changed in what was a matter of minutes."
He woke up 27 days later, but that was just the beginning of his journey. Mitch had 20 skin grafts from his leg and back, making his face look ‘melted’.
In 2011 he went under the knife for 14 hours to have the face transplant because he ‘didn’t want his children to be embarrassed by him’.
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The operation was a success, and he now has full sensation in his face, as well as a full beard.
He continued: "In total the surgery took 14 and a half hours after around six months of seeing different surgeons all over the country.
"My face was taken entirely from an organ donor, using his skin, soft tissue, cartilage from his nose, beard and eyebrows
"Surgeons removed all the scar tissue from my face, connected blood vessels and nerve endings. Strangely enough I can grow my beard which once belonged to the donor which is really weird!"
"I made the decision for my kids because I didn't want to be the reason they were bullied or outcast at school.
"Having people scream at the sight of you is upsetting, and I couldn't imagine that happening in the company of my own children.
"Having the transplant was the best decision of my life, and it has helped me put the accident behind me and finally move on with my life."
Tom Wood