Five years after being the first man on Earth receive a full face transplant, Joe DiMeo has found the woman of his dreams.
The 24-year-old received 20 reconstructive plastic surgeries and skin grafts, back in July 2018 after the vehicle he was driving crashed and burst into flames.
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As a result, he suffered third degree burns to 80% of his body and had his fingertips amputated.
Two years and one month after his life-changing accident, however, Joe underwent the ground-breaking procedure which would finally give him a face again - as well as a double hand transplant.
By the end of August 2020, the surgery - during which he was given the transplanted face of a 48-year-old male stroke victim - Joe was looking forward to moving on from the incident.
Though his injuries allegedly saw him abandoned by many of the friends he had prior to the cataclysmic crash, Joe now claims he's grateful for the life-changing accident, after it brought him face-to-face with his now girlfriend, Jessica Koby.
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The New Jersey local told press of his transplant: "It didn't feel weird being given the face of someone nearly twice my age because I was just completely ready to start my life again.
"This is who I am now and I came to terms with that quite quickly really."
Insisting he wasn't 'looking for love' in the years after his injury, Joe claims he held onto his faith that he was just as deserving as others of a happily ever after.
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And thankfully, when 32-year-old Jessica came across Joe's incredible recovery two years ago, she took a punt and messaged him on Instagram.
Within a matter of months, the duo were totally head over heels for one another, shacked up together, and went on to purchase their two Boston Terrier dogs Buster, six, and Kirkland, seven.
"We developed a relationship initially long distance and then I moved from southern California to be closer to him and it has been great ever since," Jess, a nurse, said of their connection.
“He is a pretty quiet guy so at first when you’re just getting to know him he keeps to himself and just observes his surroundings. He is very knowledgeable and anyone he talks to he can carry a conversation with."
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Asked what she likes the most about her man, Jess went on to describe him as 'gentle, kind' and 'so courageous'.
"For everything he has gone through, he remains so positive and such a light," she gushed.
Joe had been working a night shift in a food testing laboratory when he fell asleep at the wheel and veered his car off the road and hit a curb.
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After flipping over a few times and catching fire, his body was left with 80% burns.
A team of 140 surgeons, nurses and support staff at NYU Langone hospital in New York City were given the responsibility of performing the pioneering surgery, which had only been attempted twice before.
But thankfully, due to the success of the surgery and support of his new beau, Joe doesn't feel as though anything could possibly hold him back from achieving his other dreams.
"Now it's really just amazing getting independence again," he explained. "After surgery I was like at 0% – I couldn’t really do anything. Now I feel like I’m at 50%. I can cook, clean, do laundry and I can move my phone better.
"I can drive again. I just drive my girlfriend’s Subaru Crosstrek. I don’t have my own car yet."
Topics: News, US News, Life, Real Life, True Life, Sex and Relationships, Health
Rhianna Benson