Pat Hardison was a former volunteer fire fighter who was severely burned in 2001 while on duty. He recently underwent a 26 hours of surgery in August after being paired with a donor, a 26 year old cyclist who passed away. The 26 hour of surgery is the most extensive face transplant operation in history.

As reported by Washington Post, Hardison was a volunteer fire fighter in Senatobia when he got a desperate call. He rushed to a house engulfed in flames with a woman trapped inside. Unfortunately, as he raced inside the house, the roof suddenly collapsed. His felt his mask melting as he jumped out the window.

Hardison lost almost all of his face, including his eyelids, ears, lips and most of his nose and hair. He suffered disfiguring third degree burns across his entire face, head, neck and upper torso. The burn was so worse that he could not even close his eyes.

Dr. Eduardo D. Rodriguez, chair of plastic surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center recounted his first encounter with Hardison. "From that day on, September 5, 2001, there was no normal tissue left throughout his face."

The medical centre announced in a press conference last Monday that Hardison undergone the most extensive face transplant to date. The donor was David Rodebaugh, a young BMX cyclist from Ohio, whose family donated his liver, kidney and both eyes to help other patients. He died in July when he crashed and hit his head while riding in Brooklyn. He died the same age as Hardison got injured.

Hardison underwent more than 70 surgeries that involved multiple grafts from his leg to his face but he still appeared to be disfigured. A friend at Hardison's church heard and contacted Dr. Rodriguez on his behalf. The transplant operation which took place last August 14 was funded by a grant from NYU Langone. The total cost was estimated to be between $850,000 and $1 million according to the hospital.

The 26-hour surgery was composed of Dr. Rodriguez and a team of more than 100 doctors. Watch the journey of Hardison in the video below: