NJ face transplant recipient, fiancee post engagement photos: So inspiring

A New Jersey man who received a face transplant after being severely burned in a car wreck shared his engagement photos this week to an overwhelming outpouring of support.Joe DiMeo, 26, and his fiancée Jessica Perez, 32, shared a preview of their engagement photos on their joint Facebook account, where the snaps quickly garnered over 2,000 likes and hundreds of loving comments.“A strong, amazing, lovely couple who inspire others and will change the world for the better! You already are doing it!” said one commenter. “Beautiful!!! Y’all are soooo inspiring!!” said another. The joyful milestone marked yet another victory for DiMeo, who was left with burns covering 80% of his body after he fell asleep at the wheel in July 2018, causing his car to swerve off the road and burst into flames.“I was in hospital for four months, and around half of that I was in a coma,” he told Newsweek early this year of the grueling recovery process.“Then I spent some time coming back to my feet somewhat quickly, and by the fourth month I went to rehab.”About two years later, DiMeo became the first person to receive a successful face and double hand transplant, according to NYU Langone, where the 23-hour surgery was performed.DiMeo explained to Newsweek that he has about 45% use of his hands and is getting better at using his face to blink, raise his eyebrows and move his lips – something that most people take for granted.It was during his recovery from the transplant that DiMeo connected with Perez, who saw his story in the news and reached out over Instagram.The pair “hit it off right away,” Perez told the outlet, and quickly dived into a long-distance relationship.“I was just drawn to the way that he carried himself in his interviews.

He’s a very hard-working person, so despite being disfigured, he was just ready to go back to work.I think that his ambition was what intrigued me the most,” she recalled.“I always hoped that I’d find someone li...