ROCHESTER, Mich. – According to the Mayo Clinic, Derek Pfaff, 30, from Harbor Beach, can blink, swallow, smile, and breathe through his nose for the first time in a decade thanks to a face transplant performed after a suicide attempt.
Pfaff’s life changed forever on March 5, 2014, when a tragic incident left his face severely damaged after a suicide attempt by a gunshot while in college.
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While under immense pressure during his college years, Pfaff shot himself in the face. He said he did remember attempting to take his own life, but he didn’t remember what occurred. He just woke up in the hospital from a possible car accident.
Pfaff underwent 58 reconstructive facial surgeries in 10 years before attending the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
During that period, he could not eat solid foods or speak casually with friends and family.
He couldn’t wear glasses because he had no nose, which led to the transformational face transplant so that he could once again do all the things he missed.
Pfaff has become a passionate advocate for suicide prevention and plans to share his story to encourage others who are struggling to get help.
His life was spared for a reason, and he said he chooses now to help others as he was gifted a second chance at life.
Since the first transplant was performed in 2005, there have been more than 50 procedures have been done worldwide.
Mayo Clinic performed its first face transplant in 2016.
Mayo Clinic surgeons performed Pfaff’s face transplant in February 2024 in a procedure that lasted more than 50 hours and involved a medical team comprised of at least 80 healthcare professionals, including surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, technicians, assistants, and other specialists.
Doctors estimate that 85% of Pfaff’s face, including the mandible and maxilla, was reconstructed and replaced with donor tissue.
A digital surgical plan was created relying on detailed scans of both the donor’s and recipient’s faces, allowing the team to perform the surgery digitally first.
Mayo Clinic doctors also performed facial nerve mapping on both the donor and Pfaff’s nerve systems to understand the function of each nerve.
While the digital aspect ensured preparation, customized 3D-printed cutting guides translated those plans into tangible tools for use in the surgical suite.
The transplant required replacing virtually everything below Pfaff’s eyebrows and part of his forehead, including his upper and lower eyelids and intraorbital fat, upper and lower jaws, teeth, nose, cheek structure, neck skin, hard palate, and parts of his soft palate.
Relying on the preoperative facial nerve mapping, one of the most critical aspects of the face transplant surgery was ensuring the donor and recipient’s delicate facial nerves, 18 branches between the two sides, were adequately connected to restore function.
A new microsurgery technique was also employed to transplant the donor’s tear drainage system, which allows Pfaff’s tears to drain normally into his new nose.
Pfaff can now express happiness, sadness, joy, and disappointment through his transplanted facial muscles and nerves.
The federally designated organ procurement organization for the Upper Midwest also played a pivotal role in the transplant, working closely with the donor’s family and Mayo Clinic care teams. Thanks to his face transplant, Pfaff says he is focused on planning his future.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
