How A Face Transplant Gave A Newcastle Man A New Smile And Life

Before Andy Sandness of Newcastle, Wyoming, became the 32nd person in the world to receive a face transplant, he was working in the oil field and trying to live his best life. He rode a dirt bike at a local track and hunted deer in the fall. 

In his dreams, he saw himself as a man without a face. In fact, he had a surgically reconstructed face, but he wasn’t happy with it. People sometimes said insensitive and hurtful things about him. He yearned to feel “normal” again. 

Then came a call from the renowned Mayo Clinic. A new face from another man who had just died by suicide was available. Sandness drove to Cheyenne, hopped on a private jet and flew to Rochester, Minnesota.

At the Mayo Clinic, Sandness endured a 56-hour surgery and a long, complicated recovery after that.

He came away with a new face, the beginnings of a love affair that would bring him a wife and children and a new outlook on life that he happily shared in a recent interview with Cowboy State Daily.

Dark Days

This week, "Face in the Mirror: A Surgeon, a Patient, and the Remarkable Story of the First Face Transplant at Mayo Clinic” was published by Mayo Clinic Press.

The new book details Sandness’ journey from a happy childhood in Wyoming to struggles with alcohol to a dark December night in 2006, when 21-year-old Sandness came home from drinking with friends in Newcastle so consumed by depression he felt the world would be better off without him.

The next day, Sandness was supposed to attend a Denver Broncos game with his buddy. The team was playing the Cincinnati Bengals with playoff implications on the line, and they were excited about their tickets. But depression and alcohol had taken hold.

"I was just in a really low-down place,” Sandness told Cowboy State Daily. “Just couldn't get out of that funk, you know, that life would be easier for everybody if I just wasn't there.”

Sandness brought a rifle into his bedroom, placed the barrel under his chin and pulled the trigger.

As "Face in the Mirror” author Jack El-Hai explains, sometimes in these deadly moments, the body spasms involuntarily in a life-saving flinch. That’s what happened to Sandness.

He jerked his head back slightly at the instant of impact and the bullet blasted through his face, missing his brain.

This spared his life, but left him horribly disfigured. 

When Sandness woke up in the hospital the day after his suicide attempt, he was delirious. His brain reverted to psychological self-preservation, creating a delusion about what really happened. 

“I legit thought that I ran out on the field and Al Wilson the middle linebacker hit me. I swear to God, that's what I thought when I woke up,” recalled Sandness. “And my mom's there next to me, and everything starts to sink in and you realize what happened.”

What followed was a grueling medical journey that would span years.

“I basically went through one surgery per week. So, I would get a surgery every Monday," Sandness said.

A Man Without A Face

After his initial hospitalization, Sandness returned to Newcastle with a prosthetic nose and a reconstructed face, but life was far from normal.

"I stayed at home. I didn't want to go out. I was a recluse,” he said.

His old boss in Newcastle called and offered him work at the Flying V Lodge, helping him get back on his feet. Eventually, Sandness made his way to the oil fields, working as a roustabout before becoming an electrician and moving to Cheyenne. 

Through it all, Sandness lived with a surgically reconstructed face, complete with a prosthetic nose that required constant maintenance.

"We couldn't afford to go and get a new prosthetic nose every year,” shared Sandness in a recent Mayo Clinic podcast. “You're supposed to get one probably every year.

“You're not supposed to work outside, which I do. It would fade. You're not supposed to get oil on it. Well, I worked in the oil field and got it dirty. I would take it home and scrub it every night.”

During this period, Sandness told author El-Hai that the people he encountered didn’t always respond kindly to his appearance. 

“They would make fun of him or whisper behind his back and that kind of thing," El-Hai told Cowboy State Daily.

"People who are living with a disfigured face or injured face, they deserve our empathy and help,” said El-Hai. “It's a catastrophic thing when the way we present ourselves to the world is so badly damaged.”

The Call 

In 2012, Andy received a life-changing phone call from Dr. Samir Mardini about a revolutionary new procedure: face transplantation. 

"I'll never forget the call. It was a 507 area code,” Sandness said. “I know that area code, and it was Dr. Mardini. He and I were super excited. OK, let's do it. When do I get to do the face transplant? He was like, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on.’”

Mardini’s team spent three years preparing, dedicating weekend time to practicing on cadavers.

Finally, in 2016, it was go time.

Sandness was working at an oil field north of Cheyenne when Mardini called with news of a potential donor.

"I'm like, ‘Oh, man. You know, I'm stuck out in the middle of the oil field. I don't have my truck.’ My boss dropped me off at the mini excavator,” he recalled. “We got cows in the field. You know how it is when you're from Wyoming, right? You can't just leave that stuff open because cows are going to get in there.”

The donor was a man close to Sandness’ age who shared his interests in hunting and fishing. As El-Hai explained to Cowboy State Daily: "He did commit suicide, but his face was not affected, and his widow was generous.”

56-Hour Marathon

Mardini was at the Minneapolis airport about to fly to Las Vegas with his family for a vacation. He turned around and headed back to Rochester to meet up with his team of more than 50 medical professionals ready to give Sandness a new face. 

"The first 20-22 hours of the surgery was Dr. Mardini, the surgeon was taking the face and all the tissues from the donor," El-Hai explained. 

The key to success was Dr. Mardini's meticulous approach to nerve repair. 

"We identified on the donor all the facial nerve branches supplying the area of the face that was transplanted. We took pictures. We videotaped,” Mardini said. “We studied what every little branch of those nerves did for the face. And we did the same thing on our patient, on Andy.”

More than 56 hours later, Sandness first saw his new face in a mirror, surrounded by family and medical staff. He couldn't speak because of a tracheostomy. But his written response said everything: "Far exceeded my expectations."

"Oh, it was amazing. The room's filled with people,” said Sandness. “I tend to shy away from people and all eyes are on you. I was just blown away. You're still just super swollen, but you know that you had a great outcome.”

A New Life Begins

During a nine-month recovery at Mayo Clinic, Sandness met Kim, a nurse whose care he depended on. 

"She was amazing,” remembered Sandness.

The relationship remained strictly professional during his treatment, said Sandness, but after his discharge, they began talking on the phone. 

Kim eventually flew to Denver, rented a car and drove to Sandness’ apartment in Cheyenne for their first real date: A road trip to Estes Park, Colorado.

That’s where Kim tried mussels for the first time and Sandness drew profound happiness from the experience of being a normal guy out on a date. 

They maintained a long-distance relationship for three years before marrying and eventually moved to Minnesota, where Kim continues working at the Mayo Clinic and Sandness transitioned to solar installation work.

"I got two kids, man,” said Sandness. “I'm a dad. I go home, and that's the greatest joy in my life. I've never been so happy.”

“I have a functioning face,” he added. “When I smile, I can smile."

David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.