Joe DiMeo is using his story to inspire others.
Nearly eight years after a car crash burned 80 percent of his body, prompting the first successful dual face and double hand transplant in history, the TikToker is sharing his story in a new book titled Eighty Percent Gone, One Hundred Percent Strong: Rebuilt with Resilience.
The 27-year-old—who received the face and hands of a 47-year-old donor in August 2020—shared in a Jan. 20 TikTok, “Hopefully the book can inspire other people and motivate them through hard times and get them [through] their cloudy days at least.”
Since his July 2018 crash, Joe—who was 18 when he fell asleep at the wheel on his way home from an overnight shift—has detailed his experience of being in a coma for three months and the recovery that followed, including over 20 reconstructive surgeries. Plus, he has described his mindset leading up to receiving his face and hand transplants.
“That was the first thing [my surgeon] said, like, ‘This can fail,’” Joe told People in an interview published in June. “But going into any surgery you can die. So, that didn't bother me at all.”
He added, “You're gonna die anyways. Might as well die trying to be independent again, live my life.”
So, in August 2020, Joe underwent a 23-hour surgery that took 86 medical personnel.
“They cut off my burnt face around the hairline, behind the ears—they really connected behind the ears, a lot of scar tissue there—down around the neck,” he explained. “They put the donor face on. They had to reconnect all the veins, the muscles, the ligaments, the tendons. They put two metal plates on my cheekbones so it wouldn't sag.”
Joe added, “With the hands, they basically cut like [above the wrist], they re-attached all the veins, ligaments, nervous systems.”
After his lengthy recovery, which involved re-learning how to perform many daily tasks, Joe met his now-wife Jessica via Instagram, which he sees as a silver lining of his experience.
"It sucks I got into the accident. I lost 80 percent of my skin, and I have someone else's face and hands on me," he said. "But then I also found my life partner, and if I wouldn't have had the accident, I'd probably still be a cocky 26-year-old.”
Joe concluded, “I would prefer not to be burned, but I like my life now, just because I have Jessica around."
Read on to learn about others who have spoken out about their life-changing accidents.
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