Face in the Mirror, Jack ElHai
Face in the Mirror, Jack ElHai
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Face in the Mirror
A Surgeon, a Patient, and the Remarkable Story of the First Face Transplant at Mayo Clinic

Author: Jack El-Hai

Narrator: Pat Grimes

Unabridged: 7 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/20/2025


Synopsis

For years, they came in on weekends to plan and practice—nearly sixty surgeons, nurses, and anesthesiologists, preparing to harmonize in a vast medical symphony. For the team at Mayo Clinic, it was their most complex surgery to date: a face transplant.

At the heart of this event was Andy Sandness. He grappled with feelings of isolation and shame after a disfiguring suicide attempt but was determined to reclaim his future, to be seen as ordinary, and to belong again. Alongside him was Dr. Samir Mardini, a surgeon with an intense, unwavering desire to transform medicine and create a new life for his patient.

Their story—told over nearly two decades—is a poignant exploration of resilience, hope, and friendship, as well as an incredible account of medical breakthroughs and scientific discovery that reveals the strength of the human spirit, and the courage to rise above our scars.

About Jack El-Hai

Jack El-Hai is a Minneapolis author whose writing has been published in The Atlantic, Wired, GQ, Discover, Scientific American Mind, and Minnesota Monthly. His books include the acclaimed The Nazi and the Psychiatrist and The Lobotomist, as well as two books from the University of Minnesota Press: Lost Minnesota and Non-Stop: A Turbulent History of Northwest Airlines. He has received two Minnesota Book Awards, the June Roth Memorial Award for Medical Journalism, and fellowships and grants from the McKnight Foundation and the Jerome Foundation.


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