Face transplant at Mayo Clinic transforms Michigan man's life

ROCHESTER, Minn. (FOX 9) - Nearly a decade after he shot himself in a failed suicide attempt, Derek Pfaff underwent a 50-hour face transplant at Mayo Clinic, restoring his ability to eat and breathe normally.

Background

Pfaff’s remarkable transformation ended a yearslong journey that included 58 surgeries and repeated disappointments.

Pfaff, 30, of Harbor Beach, Michigan, shot himself in the face on March 5, 2014. Then 19, Pfaff, who suffered from depression, was home on spring break during his freshman year of college. His father, Jerry Pfaff, discovered him near their home.

"Derek had attempted to take his life that evening," said his mother, Lisa Pfaff, "and my husband found him in a snowbank next to our garage."

Doctors told his parents that Derek would likely not survive.

Although he recovered, he lost most of his face and became reclusive.

"Derek lived a very sheltered life for the first six years, didn’t go out in public, didn’t have self-confidence," his mother recalled.

The surgery

The intricate surgery, which was the hospital’s second-ever face transplant, involved an 80-person medical team that worked to connect a series of nerves. It happened in February, just shy of a decade after his suicide attempt.

"We spent hours and hours, days and days in the cadaver lab rehearsing every detail of the operation," said Dr. Samir Mardini, the plastic surgeon who led the team. "When Derek is trying to smile, he’s not thinking about it. It just sends a signal from his nerve to the donor nerve."

Derek no longer requires his feeding and breathing tubes, and regularly socializes with friends and family.

"You’re going out in public with him not having people point," said his father. "He’s just another face in the crowd."

For the first time in years, he likes the way he looks.

"It was worth it," he said. "I’m happy where I’m at right now."