Doctors ‘truly amazed’ by man’s recovery after world-first whole-eye transplant

Haley Riccardi/NYU Langone Health/PA Wire

By Nilima Marshall, PA Media

Surgeons who performed the world’s first whole eye transplant on an army veteran said they have been “truly amazed” by his remarkable recovery.

Aaron James, 47, from Arkansas in the US, lost his left eye and most of his face after an electrical cable touched the left side 3 years ago.

In May 2023, he underwent 21 hours of surgery involving more than 140 healthcare professionals.

Now more than a year later, his donor eye continues to maintain normal pressure and blood flow – despite surgeries on animals showing a different outcome where the eye often shrank significantly, the doctors said.

Eduardo D Rodriguez, chair of the Hansjorg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery at NYU Langone Health in the US, said: “We are truly amazed by Aaron’s recovery, with no episodes of rejection.”

Tests also show that that rods and cones in the donor eye survived the transplant.

Doctors say this raises hope that one day, whole-eye transplants could be performed to restore sight – despite Mr James still yet to regain his vision in his left eye.