He’s a perfectionist, with zero tolerance for incompetence, but a leader who can bring people together and make magical things happen. At 40, the Montreal native is a skilled surgeon known by his older mentors as a boy wonder. Daniel Borsuk, plastic surgeon, at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital.ĭesperate people find Borsuk. But when Borsuk finally carried the donor’s face to that second operating room and placed it over Desjardins’ skull, it snapped into place perfectly, like a puzzle piece. It took five years of planning, nine surgeons, five anaesthesiologists and more than 100 other medical, nursing, support and technical staff. When Borsuk informed Desjardins and his wife that he was willing to try, if they were, the couple wept. But it was a possibility, a coin toss - an opportunity at a second chance in life. There was a significant chance he could end up with a lethal cancer because of the drugs he would need to take for the rest of his life to keep his body from rejecting another man’s face. There was a chance Desjardin could die from blood loss on the operating room table, or from his body’s rejection of the new face afterwards. Daniel Borsuk and Maurice Desjardins before surgery. He had lost his former self by the time he was sent to Borsuk, a plastic surgeon in Montreal adoring patients refer to as “un magicien du visage.” The doctor told him he had only one real option left, something never before attempted in Canada: A face transplant. On the rare occasions Desjardins left his rural home outside Gatineau, Que., he wore surgical masks. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He was in chronic pain from the rigid scar tissue and the loose, disconnected nerves floating in his skin. He breathed through a hole in his windpipe. But he was still left with two holes where his nose used to be and a mangled and puckered mouth that he couldn’t close, which meant he couldn’t eat properly and drooled constantly. Surgeons had tried rebuilding his shattered face over the years, using plates and screws and bone chiselled from his fibula. Seven years ago, a bullet from a hunting rifle destroyed Desjardins’ nose, lips, teeth and upper and lower jaws. Only his eyes, upper eyelids and forehead remained. His old face, the mutilated one, was gone, disassembled over 17 hours by a second team of surgeons. In the next room, Maurice Desjardins was almost ready. Without a blood supply it would survive only two to three hours. Daniel Borsuk cradled the face in his cupped palms, carefully washed away the blood and injected the arteries and veins with a preservation fluid. Try refreshing your browser, or tap here to see other videos from our team.īut when the surgeons cut and clamped the last five vessels, freeing the face entirely from the brain-dead organ donor’s body, it instantly began to turn white as his life drained from it.ĭr. Memorial Contributions may be made to the South Side Animal Shelter, 1614 W. He was preceded in death by his son David Kramer brother Tommy Norris and sister Shirley Norris. Rick is survived by his loving wife of 24 years, Cindy Norris nephews, Derek Smith (Heather), Dennis, Steve, and Tim Norris sons, Larry Miller, Doug Miller (Tricia), Bradley Kramer (Amy), Christian Kramer (Coleen) grandchildren, Cody (Tiffany), Terri (Thad), Sydney, Adam, Bradley, Jr., Anna, Ian, and Ava great-grandsons, Eli and Graydyn and his faithful and loving dog, Skipper. and a graveside service will follow at 3:00 p.m. until the time of service at 12:00 noon at Shirley Brothers Washington Memorial Chapel, 9606 E. Visitation will be Wednesday, Septemfrom 10:00 a.m. Fix It" and loved spending time with his family. Rick was a member of the NRA, loved target shooting, crossword puzzles, an absolute dog lover, and an avid Colts fan. He was a heating and air technician for CBRE and Johnson Controls, retiring in 2017. Rick graduated from Elk Grove High School in Elk Grove Village, IL. He was born Septemin Pittsburg, Kansas to Charley Witt and Lillian Goodsell Norris. Indianapolis – 66, passed away September 13, 2019.
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