After being struck by a drunk driver in 2013, Robert Chelsea suffered severe injuries and had to wait for a donor with a skin tone similar to his own.
The first African-American to receive a full face transplant is now recovering after a successful surgery, following months of waiting for a suitable donor.
After being on the face transplant waiting list for a year and a half, 68-year-old Robert Chelsea finally underwent the procedure in July. In May 2018, he was offered a donor face, but he hesitated to accept because the donor’s skin tone was much lighter than his own. In an interview with TIME, Chelsea expressed concerns about becoming “a completely different person physically.”
In 2013, Chelsea was severely burned when hit by a drunk driver, which made his life extremely difficult in the years that followed. During the year and a half he spent in the hospital, he underwent thirty surgeries. Still, doctors were unable to reconstruct his lips, part of his nose, or his left ear. Without lips, eating and drinking had become complicated—he had to tilt his head back to prevent food or water from falling out of his mouth.
Although finding a suitable replacement face was challenging, Chelsea preferred to wait for the perfect match. In 2015, only 17% of African-American patients waiting for a transplant received an organ, compared to 30% of white patients. The lack of Black donors remains a major issue.
In a statement from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where the transplant was performed, Alexandra Glazier, CEO of New England Donor Services, said, “It is absolutely essential that people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds consider organ donation, including external transplants such as face and hand donations.” In these cases, skin tone can be more critical than internal organs.
Finally, in July 2019, a 62-year-old man with a skin tone very close to Chelsea’s passed away, providing the ideal donor.
As he told TIME: “I can’t imagine the experience of losing a loved one and facing such a request. I hope to give back a part of what this family has lost.”
Following a 16-hour surgery involving over 45 healthcare professionals at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Chelsea became the first African-American to undergo a full face transplant and the fifteenth in the United States.
Just ten days after the operation, Chelsea could eat, speak, and breathe on his own. His recovery was remarkably fast. Today, he aims to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation and encourage more people to get involved through his charity, Donor’s Dream.
He stated: “I cared about humanity long before this surgery. Helping each other is a necessity. I still feel the same way, and this experience has only strengthened that feeling.”
Chelsea still requires ongoing care and medical follow-up, but he is making excellent progress.
In a statement he released, he concluded: “This experience has been an incredible journey for me, sometimes filled with many challenges. The extraordinary team of doctors and staff at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the love and support of my family and friends, and my unwavering faith all contributed to my recovery. Today, I am happy to announce that I am on the road to recovery.”
