Mitch Hunter's amazing new face: Transplant patient leaves hospital

Mitch Hunter is ready to face the world again - with a new face. A decade after his face was horribly disfigured in a car accident, the 30-year-old Indiana man underwent the nation's second full-face transplant in April 2011 at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Now, six weeks later, Hunter has returned home to his 14-month-old son, his girlfriend, and close friends and family, the Indianapolis Star reported.

Before the transplant, Hunter underwent reconstructive surgery and wore a prosthetic nose.

The injury to his face occurred after he came into contact with a high-voltage electrical wire following his car accident.

More than 30 doctors and nurses participated in the surgery, including Dr. Julian Pribaz (left) and the team's leader, Dr. Bohdan Pomahac (right). The operation lasted more than 14 hours.

Here, Hunter talks with one of his doctors, Dr. Donald Annino, Jr., before surgery.

The face Hunter received was donated by an anonymous man. "We are so very happy that the transplant is progressing well," the donor's family said in a statement. "It is a gift to us to know that another young man's life could be so positively changed because of our son's giving spirit. Though we grieve our loss, we are also joyful that his passing has made this miracle possible."

Here, Dr. Pomahac and Dr. Pribaz enter the operating room with a cooler that contains the donor face.

Doctors gave Hunter a new nose, eyelids, and lips - along with the muscles and nerve fibers necessary to produce facial expressions and to feel sensation.

Here, Hunter uses a mirror to see his new face for the first time.

Hunter is the third person to receive a face transplant at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Here he poses with the two other recipients, Jim Maki (center) and Dallas Wiens (right). Maki received a partial face transplant in April 2009, and Wiens received the nation's first full face transplant in March 2011.

"I am very grateful to the entire transplant team for working so well together, ensuring that Mitch's procedure went smoothly and putting him on course for a successful recovery and new life," said Dr. Pomahac (shown here with Hunter, Maki, and Weins).

The hospital's face transplant program is supported by the U.S. Department of Defense, which hopes the procedure can be used to help service members injured in combat.

This photo shows Dr. Pribaz, a plastic surgeon, during Hunter's operation.