“Would you risk your life just to look human again?” After a hunting accident that left him faceless for seven years, Maurice chose a dangerous transplant as his only hope. Discover his new face in the article.
In 2011, 65-year-old Maurice Desjardins suffered a tragic accident that changed everything. During a hunt, a rifle malfunctioned, causing a severe facial injury.
The damage was extreme: his facial bones, skin, nose, mouth, nerves, and teeth were shattered. Maurice was unrecognizable, his face disfigured beyond repair.
His wife, Gaétane, became his full-time caregiver, quitting her job to support him through years of emotional and physical pain. Doctors had to create an opening in his neck so he could breathe, as even that became difficult after the accident.
On his GoFundMe page, Maurice shared how difficult life became for him. For seven years I lived without a face. I couldn’t speak, eat, drink, or breathe properly. I depended on a tracheostomy to survive. I spent three of those years waiting for a transplant.
In May 2018, after nearly a decade of suffering, Maurice underwent a groundbreaking face transplant surgery, a moment he described as “the greatest gift” and a “new beginning.”
The complex operation was led by Dr. Daniel Borsuk, who made sure Maurice understood the risks. “I had to tell him honestly that I might not survive the surgery,” the doctor explained. “When I warned him, Maurice simply asked me, ‘Do you think I’m really alive now?'”
Maurice had lost all hope of a normal life. “People stare at me. They judge me. I’d rather risk everything than continue like this,” he said. “I didn’t care what my face looked like. I just wanted to look like a person again,” according to CBC News.
Although Maurice still has difficulty speaking, the surgery gave him back something invaluable: his identity and dignity. After years of hiding, he could finally look in the mirror and see a future.
