A 30-year-old Michigan man who survived a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the face more than a decade ago has finally undergone a transformative face transplant after 65 surgeries.
Derek Pfaff was just 19 when he was found lying in a snowbank outside his Harbor Beach home on March 5, 2014, during spring break from college. The gun was beside him. He was wearing only a T-shirt and shorts.
“He had no face. There was no face, it was a gunshot wound right to his head,” Derek’s mother, Lisa Pfaff, told WXYZ Detroit. “And Jerry put him in the vehicle face down, which really was the first miracle, because if he would have put him face up in the vehicle, he would've drowned on the blood and choked to death on the two and a half miles just to get to our hospital.”
Derek, a former high school football standout, survived the attempt—but the damage was catastrophic. He lost an eye, his nose, and most of his teeth and lips. Over the next six years, he underwent 58 surgeries. Eventually, doctors told him there was nothing more they could do.
“I didn’t go out in public,” Derek said.
“People would point and, you know, call him names, and it was just so hard,” Lisa added.
Before the attempt, Derek says he kept his mental health struggles to himself, burying the pressure he felt at school.
“I kept ... my feelings and emotions inside. I didn't want to talk to anyone about it. I wish I would have now — mom, dad — whoever, got off my chest. I would have felt so much better,” he said.
That long road led Derek to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he eventually became eligible for a face transplant. In February 2024, he and his family got the call that a donor had become available.
Following a complex procedure and several additional surgeries, Derek now has a functioning face again.
He is only the second person to ever receive a face transplant at the Mayo Clinic and one of just 50 people worldwide to undergo the operation.
Lisa called the transplant “miraculous” and said Derek looked “amazing” on a GoFundMe page set up to help with medical expenses. The same page confirmed Derek had his 65th surgery on May 2.
So far, the fundraiser has brought in $285,895 of its $1 million target.
If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available. Contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, or text “STRENGTH” to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line.