Hot Springs man reflects on recovery one year after receiving first-ever face, whole-eye transplant

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – In May of 2023, an Arkansas lineman underwent the world’s first whole-eye and partial face transplant. Now, more than a year later, he’s dealing with a new normal and a new chance at life.

A study on Aaron James’ surgery was published on Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association highlighting the results of his breakthrough procedure and what this means for the future of medical science.

Aaron is a 46-year-old military veteran who lives in Hot Springs. In 2021, he was hit with 7,200 volts while working on a line, losing half his arm, his eye, and much of his face. He thought life as he knew it was over until a surgical team at NYU Langone offered him a risky second chance: a historic procedure never done before.

Now, not only does Aaron have a new face with the ability to talk, eat solid foods, and smell; but he also has a new eye that, although unseeing, is alive: a perfect outcome he and his team hoped for but never expected.

“Since the accident, the way I am now is just totally 180 different than what I was before the surgery,” he said. “I mean everything is healed good, everything just went… it went the way they wanted it to go.”

Now, they hope Aaron’s success will open the door to other whole-eye transplants that may be useful for those unable to see, with the possibility of the transplanted eyes eventually regaining vision.

“Eyesight is something that millions of people have trouble with, you know,” he said. “If this here can alleviate some of that then I think, you know, I’m pretty happy about it.”

It’s unclear if Aaron will ever regain vision in the donated eye, but it has good blood flow, good pressure and the retina is sending signals.

Right now, he’s flying back to New York every three months and taking it one day at a time. In the past year, Aaron celebrated the holidays with family and even made it to a reunion for the first time since his accident.

He said he really wants to thank the donor and his family, and not a day goes by where he doesn’t think of the stranger who gave him another shot at life.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLRT - FOX16.com.