Jerome Hamon is the first man to receive two face transplants. This unprecedented feat was performed at the Georges-Pompidou European Hospital in Paris three months ago. Hamon remains in the hospital so he can be monitored closely by medical professionals to avoid rejection.
Hamon suffers from neurofibromatosis type 1, a genetic mutation which causes severely disfiguring tumors. He received his first transplant from Dr. Laurent Lantieri in 2010, but in that same year he was given an antibiotic, to treat a common cold, that was incompatible with his immunosuppressive treatment. By 2016 he began to show signs of transplant rejection; last November he was hospitalized with necrosis. The transplanted face had to be removed and Hamon lingered in the hospital faceless for two months while a suitable donor was sought.
Once a face donor was found, Lantieri again performed the painstaking surgery and is hopeful that this surgery will be Hamon's last. The team at Georges-Pompidou European Hospital now waits for Hamon to recover, a process that will take many more months.