Would-Be Heart Recipient Donates Face to Disfigured Man

Joseph Helfgot was about to receive a long-awaited heart donation -- but after he died on the operating table, he helped provide life and hope to several other patients.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on April 27 2009

Stock Image

Joseph Helfgot, the son of Auschwitz survivors, grew up with an understanding of how precious and frail life can be. In his 40s, he was told that he would need a new heart—and when the long-awaited opportunity for a transplant finally arrived at age 60, he was aware that there was a risk he wouldn’t survive the operation.

If he didn’t make it, he had just one wish, he told his family: Helfgot wanted to make sure that his organs could be used to save the lives of other patients in need.

Sadly, Helfgot died on the operating table. But, following his wishes, the staff of his Boston facility, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, gave both his liver and the donated heart to other transplant patients in the hospital.

The staff also had an unusual request for Helfgot’s widow, Susan Whitman: Would she be willing to donate his face to a man who had been horribly disfigured?

Whitman didn’t need to think about it for long—she already knew what her husband would have said. “You wish, on so many levels, that you don’t have to make this decision, but how can you deny someone else a chance at [a normal] life?” she told the Boston Globe.

Whitman agreed to the face transplant, and, while the patient will not fully resemble Helfgot because his bone structure is different, Whitman is eager to meet the man who now bears her beloved husband’s face. She knows that Helfgot would have been honored to play such a significant and memorable role in another person’s life.

“He would be happy to know he went out with a bang,” she said. “But he’s not gone, in a way. Because of it, he’s still here.”

View Source

Filed under: Health and Wellbeing, Heroes, Science,

Liked this? You'll love these, too:

Scientist Aubrey De Grey Claims Humans Can Live to 1,000

The anti-aging expert claims that the secrets of eternal youth are just a few scientific discoveries away. Read More
Anti-CD47 Drug Proven to Shrink All Tumors in Mice with Cancer

Researchers have successfully stopped the spread of cancer, and even shrunk existing tumors, in animal trials for a promising new drug. Read More
60 Lives Linked Through Chain of 30 Kidney Donations

60 people participated in a chain of 30 kidney donations spanning the United States. Read More
Meet Amasia, the Future Supercontintent that Combines America and Asia

North America, South America, and Asia will all combine into one supercontinent, Yale researchers say. Read More
Overachiever Study Shows Importance of Relaxation

A new study shows that people prone to high achievement are no happier than the rest of us. Read More