Joseph DiMeo had no idea when he fell asleep at the wheel that he’d soon be making history. While driving home from work, the 22-year-old New Jersey resident flipped his car after striking a curb and his car burst into flames. Another driver pulled DiMeo from the wreckage before the gas tank exploded, but not before he suffered third-degree burns on 80 percent of his body. After spending two and a half months in a medically induced coma DiMeo underwent 20 skin grafts, had his fingertips removed, then his thumbs amputated.
“His life was completely derailed,” Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez said of his patient. “It was completely unexpected.”
Double-hand transplants have been attempted twice before. The first case in Paris ended up killing the patient. Another attempt in Boston saw both hands removed within days. But this time doctors were hopeful.
In a 24 hour procedure involving 96 operating room staff, the surgeons managed to reconnect both donor hands to DiMeo’s mid-forearm, carefully attaching blood vessels, nerve endings, and 21 tendons. Then they set about transplanting the forehead, eyelids, nose, ears, cheeks, lips, and underlying skull.
‘The face needs to fit like a puzzle — and that’s a tricky thing because we hit the point of no return,” Rodriguez told ABC News. A really macabre, fleshy puzzle that has no picture on the box to reference. To their credit, the team succeeded, giving DiMeo a second chance at life and making him the first person in the world to successfully receive a double-hand and face transplant. Holy wow. Now he can post selfies on Instagram without a special stick. We give this story two thumbs up.
Cover Photo: Azret Ayubov (Getty Images)
What could go wrong? TikToker Uses Erection Cream to Plump Lips
Foul mouth: ‘Courtside Karen’ Apologizes for Heckling LeBron James
Visit the Mandatory Shop for great deals on your very own Mandatory merch.
Follow Mandatory on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Weird News 1-11-21
-
Facebook Creating Tool to Summarize Articles Because People Aren’t Lazy Enough Already, Thanks Zuckerberg For Making Us Dumber
For more weird news, click here.
Photo Credit: urbazon (Getty Images)
-
People With Depression Get Pills For Erectile Dysfunction in Prescription Mix-Up, Adding Endless Boners to Injury
For more weird news, click here.
Photo Credit: rclassenlayouts (Getty Images)
-
Trump Employees ‘Depressed’ That They Can’t Find Jobs After Capitol Riots, Twitter Claps Back
For more weird news, click here.
Photo Credit: Facebook
-
Betsy DeVos Resigns After Finally Spelling Her Name Correctly
For more weird news, click here.
Photo Credit: Alex Wong / Staff (Getty Images)
-
Honest Timeline: Every Dumb Thing Trump Probably Did While Banned From Twitter
For more weird news, click here.
Photo Credit: The Washington Post / Contributor
-
Covidiot Kirk Cameron Hosts Super-Spreader Christmas Carol Protests in California, Twitter Sounds Off
For more weird news, click here.
Photo Credit: fupp/Bauer-Griffin / Contributor (Getty Images)
-
Members of Congress at Capitol Hill Just Told to Get Under Their Desks, This Is a Racist Coup Drill
For more weird news, click here.
Photo Credit: Anadolu Agency / Contributor (Getty Images)
-
Naughty Nurse Has Sex With COVID-19 Positive Patient in Dirtiest Place Imaginable
For more weird news, click here.
Photo Credit: EMPPhotography (Getty Images)
-
Flight Attendant Union Working to Ban Capitol Rioters From Their Flights Home, Surely Buddy Don Can Pick Them Up on His Way Out of Town
For more weird news, click here.
Photo Credit: marcogarrincha (Getty Images)
-
Meanwhile in Texas: It’s Illegal to Own More Than 6 Dildos
For more weird news, click here.
Photo Credit: Claudia Nass (Getty Images)
-
Capitol Prostester Rubbing Eyes With Onion Is Either a Crybaby or a Resourceful Rioter (You Be the Judge)
For more weird news, click here.
Photo Credit: TMZ
-
New ‘Pajama Suit’ Is Here to Solve Your Zoom Dressing Dilemmas, Time to Donate Everything Else You Own
For more weird news, click here.
Photo Credit: Aoki Holdings
