Derek Pfaff, a 30-year-old Michigan man, recently received a life-changing face transplant
Pfaff shot himself in the face while home from college during spring break in March 2014 when he was 19 years old
He is one of only about 50 people in the world to have undergone the procedure
A 30-year-old Michigan man has finally received a life-changing face transplant after attempting suicide 11 years ago.
In the early hours of March 5, 2014, Derek Pfaff was found lying outside his home in Harbor Beach on a mound of blood-covered snow. He was 19 years old at the time, his mom, Lisa Pfaff, previously told PEOPLE.
Derek, who was home from college during spring break, was found by his father, Jerry Pfaff, and the family rushed him to a local hospital.
“He was in shorts and his T-shirt from what he had on that night, and the gun laying next to him,” Lisa recalled to WXYZ Detroit in a recent interview.
“He had no face. There was no face, it was a gunshot wound right to his head and Jerry put him in the vehicle face down, which really was the first miracle, because if he would have put him face up in the vehicle, he would’ve drowned on the blood and choked to death on the two and a half miles just to get to our hospital,” she continued.
Derek miraculously survived the gunshot wound, but his face was severely affected. He had lost an eye, no longer had a nose and his teeth and lips were mostly gone. He underwent 58 surgeries from 2014 through 2020, at which point his doctors told him there was nothing left they could do, per WXYZ.
“I didn’t go out in public,” Derek told the outlet.
“People would point and, you know, call him names, and it was just so hard,” Lisa added.
Derek, a former high school football star, told WXYZ that prior to the suicide attempt, he put a lot of “pressure” on himself academically, but often kept his feelings “private.”
“I kept … my feelings and emotions inside. I didn’t want to talk to anyone about it. I wish I would have now — mom, dad — whoever, got off my chest. I would have felt so much better,” he said.
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Hospital room (stock image)
Derek — who now considers himself lucky to be alive — eventually became eligible for a face transplant at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., per a video press release from the clinic. He and his family then received word that a donor had become available in February 2024.
After an extensive surgery that same year and numerous follow-up procedures, Derek now has a fully functioning face again.
Derek is the second person to ever receive a face transplant at the Mayo Clinic, and one of only about 50 people to have received the procedure worldwide, per the clinic.
Lisa called Derek’s transplant “miraculous” and said he looked “amazing” in a GoFundMe set up to cover Derek’s extensive medical expenses.
Lisa also shared that Derek underwent an additional follow-up surgery — making it his 65th surgery total since 2014 — on May 2, per the fundraising page.
The GoFundMe page has raised $285,895 toward its $1 million goal as of Friday, May 9.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
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