When James Maki fell onto an electrified third rail in a Boston subway station, the accident burned away most of his face. His injuries left him so severely disfigured that he avoided going outside, afraid of the stares and cruelty from strangers.
Standing before cameras at a press conference, Maki unveiled the results of a groundbreaking partial face transplant performed last month at Brigham & Women’s Hospital. The 17-hour operation, carried out by a team of 35 surgeons and specialists, was the first procedure of its kind in New England and only the second ever completed in the United States. Maki—and the widow of the man who donated the facial tissue—say they couldn’t be happier with the outcome.
Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, the burn specialist who treated Maki the night of the accident, still vividly recalls his condition.
“He arrived so catastrophically injured that the images cannot be shown,” Pomahac said. “He had burned away nearly his entire face—his nose, upper lip, the roof of his mouth, and most of the skin.”
Multiple surgeries failed to restore basic functions. Maki was left with a gaping hole where his nose once was, and his damaged mouth made speaking and eating extremely difficult.
Everything changed when the world’s first face transplant took place in France. Inspired, Maki’s doctors explored whether a similar procedure could help him. Last month, they gave him a new nose, upper lip, hard palate, facial skin, and the muscles and nerves needed for expression and sensation.
Now, when Maki looks in the mirror, he sees a face strikingly close to the one he lost.
“The first thing I thought was, ‘My nose looks just like my old nose,’” he said.
Though he keeps much of his personal life private, Maki shared that he has a 23-year-old daughter, is separated from his wife, and is a Vietnam veteran who struggled with addiction after the war. He calls the transplant his “second chance.”
His new face still bears significant scarring, and one eye remains partially covered. Still, he feels profound gratitude toward donor Joseph Helfgot and to Helfgot’s widow, Susan Whitman-Helfgot, who attended the press conference.
“To see Jim breathing, speaking, and eating again—it’s a blessing,” she said, urging the public to become organ donors.
The hospital won’t charge Maki for the $200,000 operation since it was their first. He may undergo minor revision surgeries in the future. For the rest of his life, he’ll take medication to prevent rejection—drugs that can carry life-threatening risks. But to Maki, the trade-off is worth it.
Being able to eat, breathe, and step outside without fear, he says, is nothing short of a miracle.
