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In a gripping tale of redemption and resilience, an injured young man desperate for a second chance finds unexpected hope in the hands of a visionary medical team
About the author
Jack El-Hai is the author of books and articles on medicine, science, and history. He has written more than 600 articles and essays for
The Atlantic,
Smithsonian,
GQ,
Scientific American,
Wired,
The Washington Post Magazine, and many other publications. His books include
The Nazi and the Psychiatrist (recently adapted into the movie Nuremberg),
The Lobotomist, and
The Lost Brothers. He lives in Minneapolis, MN.
Summary
The story of a miracle of medicine and of two men—a patient who severely injured his face in a suicide attempt and a doctor with a passion for helping those with facial differences—and how they formed an inextricable bond.
In 2006, at the age of 21, electrician apprentice Andy Sandness spent Christmas Eve drinking at a party and in a deep state of depression. He stormed back to the home he shared with his mother in Wyoming and shot himself in the face with a rifle kept in a closet. The resulting injury left his brain intact but grievously damaged his face. Airlifted to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Andy spent months unable to eat and speak. As he gradually regained his bearings, his urge to live revived. Mayo physicians, including plastic surgeon Samir Mardini, reconstructed Andy’s face from a raw and ragged opening to repaired and rebuilt bones, muscles, and skin that allowed him return home to resume his working and social life. But Andy could barely accept his appearance, and people often stared at him. Andy lived like this until 2013, when Dr. Mardini called him and initiated a fateful conversation. A face transplant – a highly complex surgical procedure that no one at Mayo had ever undertaken – could possibly improve the quality of Andy’s life. It was not certain that Andy even met the criteria for that operation, but doctor and patient began a dialogue at turns hopeful and full of dread. A failed face transplant would be catastrophic; a successful one would enable Andy to smile, kiss, and give up his unbearable prosthetic nose.
In 2016, after years of intense planning and rehearsals, Dr. Mardini and a team of some 60 surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, and others thought they were ready. They spent an entire exhausting weekend, a total of 56 hours, successfully transplanting to Andy the face of another suicidal young man. Andy now had the nose, cheeks, mouth, lips, jaw, chin, and even the teeth of his donor. Resting in his hospital bed, he still couldn’t speak clearly, but he had something to say. He scrawled four words in a spiral notebook: “Far exceeded my expectations." Andy spent months recovering and learning how to use his new face. He raced up and down a rollercoaster of pain, uncertainty, and emotional upheaval, but the aftermath of Dr. Mardini's daring operation ultimately led Andy to a new life he never could have anticipated.
Face in the Mirror is a sweeping and dramatic journalistic account of an extraordinary medical journey.
