‘I lost my face after freak car crash – but I’m already back behind the wheel’
A lad who got the world's first face and double hand transplant after a freak car crash is now driving again.
Joesph DiMeo, 24, from New Jersey in the US, sustained life-changing injuries after falling asleep at the wheel.
His vehicle flipped and smashed into a utility pole when he was travelling back from a night shift in 2018.
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He was put into a three month coma as he clung onto life after being burnt over 80% of his body – including his eyelids and finger tips.
Then after spending over a year hiding away from the world on his parent's sofa, Joe was offered a life-changing transplant.
In 2020, he received a face and double hand transplant from a 47-year-old donor.
And that includes getting back behind the wheel of a car.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Star, Joe explained how being in a car crash inferno has not put him off of life on the highway – and getting into another Challenger.
“I grew up watching Fast and Furious and then Paul Walker died in a burning car crash, so it's like, what a weird connection,” he said.
“I still have a lot of passion for cars and I still drive now.
“Whenever we go on vacation, my girlfriend will pick the location because she's the traveller so she’ll pick the location and the hotel – and I always pick the car we rent.
“So I still drive, driving isn’t an issue.
“I only got to drive when I left my parents house as my parents don’t like me driving at all.
“So when I moved out, we went go-karting and thought ‘well I’m ready to drive now’.”
Despite sustaining life-changing injuries and receiving the first transplant of its kind in the world, Joe certainly has not been put off driving.
It would be assumed that there would be some mental barriers around getting back in a car – particularly being in the driver's seat.
But, not for Joe.
Along with his passion of being on the road, the lad’s strong mentality aided him to not fear what nearly killed him.
"When I was burnt, I still wanted to drive,” Joe candidly shared.
"I wasn’t scared of driving at all.
"It was just that no one at the time would let me drive."
Joe's passion for cars has not only helped him regain some independence that he was so desperate for, it's also helped him with the occupational therapy side of his recovery.
Although it's been three years since the 23 hour operation where he received the first successful transplant face and double hand transplant, Joe still has to strengthen the use of his hands.
And what better way to do that then build LEGO – specifically Fast and Furious LEGO, of course.
“I'm building a LEGO car set from Fast and Furious,” he gushed.
“So that's a really big task for me because the car I'm building, a 1970 Dodge Charger from Fast and Furious with the engine popping out.
“So it's like that car takes someone like 30 minutes to an hour to build, but then for me, it takes a week to build.
“It's a big test for my fine motor skills.
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“My occupational therapists are really happy once it's done because I'm recording it to post it online but also want to send it to them.
“So it's like an ultimate test on how everything's working out.”
Joe is currently in the process of writing a book about his transplant journey.
He is hoping to raise funds to assist him with this – and you can find his GoFundMe here and his TikTok page here.
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