Aaron James says he now finds beauty in the mundane – appreciating life like never before (Pic: NYU Langone Health)
The recipient of the world’s first whole-eye and partial face transplant is doing “incredibly” well more than a year after his groundbreaking surgery, NYU Langone doctors have reported in a detailed study. Forty-six-year-old Aaron James, a veteran from Arkansas, says he now finds beauty in the mundane – appreciating life like never before.
His miraculous transformation has helped him to be able to taste and enjoy solid foods again and even smell using his nose – the abilities he lost in an accident in 2021 while working as a high-voltage utility lineman. “I’ve been given the gift of a second chance, and I don’t take a single moment for granted,” James, said in an interview with The New York Post.
Doctors say the deadly 7,200-volt shock tore up Aaron’s face and despite multiple reconstructive surgeries, he still had extensive injuries that included the loss of his left eye, entire nose and lips, front teeth and chin down to the bone.
Aaron’s eye and face surgeries took 21 hours
A health team from NYU Langone has conducted a new study to review his progress. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association earlier this week. “Our discoveries over the past year mark promising initial results, laying a foundation for further advancements and ongoing research,” said senior study author Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, director of the Face Transplant Program and chair of plastic surgery at NYU Langone. “We are truly amazed by Aaron’s recovery, with no episodes of rejection,” said Rodriguez, who led the surgical team for James’ transplant. “Our methodical approach to the matching process, ensuring that Aaron received the most favorable donor match, along with our unique immunosuppression regimen, has set the standard for eliminating and avoiding early rejection episodes.”
In a 21-hour surgery performed in 2023 - an NYU Langone Health surgical team transplanted an entire left eye and a portion of a face from a single donor onto Aaron. The surgery involved a team of more than 140 surgeons, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.
Aaron’s eye has yet to regain sight
So far, Aaron has not been able to regain sight in his eye, but researchers are hopeful he might eventually be able to see out of it again. His donor eye maintains normal pressure and blood flow and has retained its size, unlike donor eyes in animals that often shrink after transplants.
Tests have revealed that Aaron’s transplanted eye is having an electrical response to light, indicating that the light-sensitive nerve cells in the eye survived the implant. It gives hope that future whole-eye transplants could one day restore sight, doctors said.
Face transplant has been successful
Aaron’s new partial face has come from a donor in his 30s – who also saved three other people by donating his kidneys, liver, and pancreas, according to New York organ procurement organization LiveOnNY.
In the transplant surgery, the team transplanted the left eye socket, including the orbital bones, as well as the nose, left upper and lower eyelids, left eyebrow, upper and lower lips, and underlying skull, cheek, nasal, and chin bone segments.
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