‘I couldn’t be more thankful’: Man, 26, who tried to kill himself with a shot to the chin after years battling depression receives face transplant in 25-hour surgery

• Cameron Underwood was 24 when he tried to take his own life with a shotgun in June 2016 
• He had battled depression for years and had been drinking all day
• A year-and-a-half later he had surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center’s new face transplant unit
• His donor was 23-year-old Will Fisher, an upcoming filmmaker and writer who studied at Johns Hopkins University 
• Fisher died suddenly in January 2018 after a battle with mental illness 

A 26-year-old man has undergone a face transplant two years after narrowly surviving an attempted suicide against the odds, a new report reveals.

Cameron Underwood, who battled depression for years, was 24 when he tried to take his own life with a shotgun in June 2016 after drinking all day.

The welder from Yuba City in Northern California was left with barely anything except for his forehead, eyes and tongue, and his parents were told he wouldn’t make it.

Doctors managed to bring him back – and soon after, Cam’s mother Bev Bailey-Potter contacted NYU Langone Medical Center’s new face transplant unit.

Today, two years on, Cam has shared his astonishing progress in an interview and photos with People magazine and ABC News, thanking doctors for giving him a second chance at life.

He also expresses his gratitude to the family of his donor, 23-year-old Will Fisher, described by People as ‘a budding New York City writer and filmmaker’. He became a donor after his ‘sudden’ death following a battle with mental illness on January 5, 2018.

Cam flew directly to New York from California and that night he underwent the 25-hour surgery that changed his life.

Transformation: Cam Underwood was 24 when he tried to take his own life with a shotgun while drunk in June 2016 – and he later could not believe he’d done such a thing. He lost everything below his eyes but surgeons managed to patch him up (left). On January 5, 2018, he was admitted for a face transplant (pictured, center, shortly after; pictured, right, recently)

Before: Cam had battled with depression for years and was self-medicating with alcohol

‘I remember just a sigh of relief that I had a face again, I had a mouth and teeth again, I had a nose again—just such amazement and joy,’ Cam told People.

‘I couldn’t be more thankful for all the hard work and the sacrifices that were made for me.’

He added: ‘The biggest difference is just being able to go out without a mask and without people staring at me.’

• 
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According to the ABC report, screening tonight on 20/20, Cam was athletic, hard-working, and a thrifty saver.

As soon as he graduated high school, he got a job working for his stepfather, and by 19 he got a mortgage on a house.

The next few years were rocky, though. 

He and his high school sweetheart separated after years together, and he lost touch with one of his closest friends, which seemed to hit hard. 

Donor: Will Fisher, 23, was a writer, filmmaker, chess player who studied at Johns Hopkins University. He was described by family as wise beyond his years. He died suddenly in January 2018 after a battle with mental illness

(he is the youngest of four, with two brothers and a sister) moved away, and he was soon diagnosed with depression. 

He started to drink a lot, and recoiled from any of his relatives’ attempts to get him to ease off.

On June 26, 2016, he spent the day hitting the bottle – something that had become commonplace, he tells People and ABC. 

But that night he entered a vortex that sucked him further than before, and he thought he should end his life. 

He pointed a shotgun under his chin and pulled the trigger, obliterating his entire face. 

It is not clear where Cam was or who found him, but help got to him quickly. He was airlifted to University of California Davis Medical Center, where doctors got to work. 

After numerous surgeries he was stabilized, but his face was gone. At first he was in a medically-induced coma, then very heavily drugged for just over a month. 

Finally, in August 2016, he was lucid enough to understand what had happened, and to see his face for the first time.

‘When I woke up, I didn’t know what was going on, where I was, what had happened to me,’ he said – adding, painfully: ‘I was shocked that I would actually do something like that, and that I had survived.’  

Cam stayed in the hospital until December 2016. Once he was discharged, he wore a mask all the time.  

Shortly after he was discharged, his mother Bev heard that surgeons at NYU Langone had performed a face transplant on a former firefighter, Patrick Hardison, who was maimed by a burning roof that fell on him. 

For Will’s mother Sally (right), Cam (left) is the one thing that helped her worked through her grief

She got in touch, and in March 2017 Dr Eduardo Rodriguez took him on, starting the lengthy procedure to get Cam enrolled, including physical screening, psychiatric screening and counseling, and getting him on the transplant list.

Finally, in January this year, he got the bitter-sweet call all transplant hopefuls yearn for: they had a candidate. 

Will Fisher, 23, had died in New York City, and he was a registered organ donor. 

His mother Sally was consulted as doctors found he would be able to transform multiple lives with his heart, liver, kidneys, eyes – and, of course, his face. 

Will, described by his family as wise beyond his years, was just a bit younger than Cam when he died. He had the same skin tone, skull size, hair color, a full set of teeth and the same blood type.  

Cam says he knew it was a life-threatening procedure but he never saw it as a choice – it was his only option to reclaim his life. 

For Will’s mother Sally, Cam is the one thing that helped her worked through her grief. 

She told People: ‘I don’t think I would have survived Will’s death if it wasn’t for Cameron. Cameron’s got his whole life ahead of him — and I love the idea that Willie’s helping him have a better life.’

• For confidential help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or click here
• For confidential support on suicide matters in the UK, call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here
• For confidential support in Australia, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or click here

HISTORY OF FACE TRANSPLANTS IN AMERICA

Face transplants became possible in 2005, when French surgeons performed a partial one on Isabelle Dinoire, who had been attacked by a dog.

America was still a few steps behind.

CONNIE CULP, 2008

Cleveland Clinic

That same year, Cleveland Clinic proved it was possible, and got licensed to perform the procedure.

In December 2008, they did so, performing a near-total face transplant on Connie Culp who had been shot in the face by her husband years prior.

The operation took 22 hours. It was the first in the world that also involved bone and nerve reconstruction.

Now 54, Connie can smile, talk, a speak understandably.

JAMES MAKI, 2009

Brigham and Women’s Hospital

James Maki was 59 when he received a partial face transplant, after being electrocuted by railway tracks when he fell in a Boston station in 2005.

His operation took 17 hours.

Now 67, he can make facial expression and eat crunchy food thanks to new dentures.

DALLAS WIENS, 2011

Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Dallas Wiens lost most of his face to burns after his head hit a power line while he painted his church.

His full face transplant took 15 hours, restoring his eyes, nose and mouth.

MITCH HUNTER, 2011

Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Mitch Hunter lost most of his face to an electric shock in a car crash in 2001.

His partial face transplant operation took 14 hours.

He can now feel his entire face, and is speaking better and better.

CHARLA NASH, 2011

Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Charla Nash lost her nose, eyelids, lips and hands in 2009 when she got attacked by a chimpanzee that belonged to a friend.

Her full face transplant took 20 hours.

RICHARD NORRIS, 2012

University of Maryland Medical Center

Richard Norris accidentally shot himself in the face at the age of 22 in 1997.

He lost his nose, cheekbones, lips, teeth and jaw.

His operation lasted 36 hours, and was the most extensive to date.

ANDREW SANDNESS, 2016

Mayo Clinic

Andy Sandness tried to take his own life with a rifle two days before Christmas in 2006. 

He survived, and was put on the path to getting a transplant. 

His operation lasted 56 hours.  

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