In April 2011, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston made history by performing the nation’s second full face transplant. The patient, 30-year-old Mitch Hunter from Indiana, had suffered severe facial injuries in a 2001 car accident involving a high-voltage electrical wire. Led by Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, a team of over 30 specialists carried out the complex 14-hour surgery, replacing Hunter’s entire face—including his eyelids, nose, muscles, and nerves.
This groundbreaking procedure followed several major milestones at BWH: New England’s first partial face transplant in 2009, and America’s first full face transplant in March 2011. The hospital’s facial transplant program, backed by the U.S. Department of Defense, continues to explore new candidates for this life-changing surgery. (For DoD funding inquiries, reach out to Col. Janet Harris at janet.harris@usarmy.mil.)
Mitch’s family expressed heartfelt gratitude to the donor’s loved ones and the entire medical team. More about Mitch’s story is available at facebook.com/mitch.hunter3.
A Legacy of Innovation in Transplant Surgery
Brigham and Women’s Hospital is internationally recognized for its leadership in transplant medicine. In 1954, Dr. Joseph Murray performed the world’s first successful organ transplant—a kidney—earning a Nobel Prize in 1990. Since then, BWH has continued to set records and lead advancements, including:
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First heart transplant in New England (1984)
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First heart-lung transplant in Massachusetts (1992)
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First U.S. triple-organ transplant (1995)
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First quintuple lung transplant in the U.S. (2004)
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Over 100 kidney transplants in one year (2006)
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30+ lung transplants in 2008
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600th heart transplant performed in 2025
Today, BWH remains at the forefront of transplant innovation—reshaping the future of medicine one patient at a time.
