Public reaction is a mix of awe, curiosity, and optimism about the world's first human bladder transplant, with many finding personal resonance in the potential life-changing impact for those with bladder health issues. The milestone garners a sense of marvel, humor, and inquiries about its complexity and practicality.

Medical Researchers

Transplant Recipients

Healthcare Professionals

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This would’ve completely changed my mom’s life the last couple years. Maybe it still can

Bakedfresh420

Geez, bladder cancer?! I didn't know that was thing. 
F Cancer.

eastbay77

Oh wow. I didn't know the bladder was such a difficult organ to ~~replace~~ transplant. Awesome news.

Edit: wording

berrylakin

Surgeons in Southern California have performed the first human bladder transplant, introducing a new, potentially life-changing procedure for people with debilitating bladder conditions. Read more for free, even without a subscription to The New York Times, [here](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/18/health/bladder-transplant-human.html?unlocked_article_code=1.IE8.2iYq.gUM0ZF8_PofZ&amp;smid=re-nytimes).

thenewyorktimes

I had my bladder removed 12 yrs ago due to bladder cancer. I have a stoma on my stomach and a urine bag now=saved my life. I could have opted for a neo bladder a more complicated operation and you have to Train It for up to 6 months after surgery. My surgery was 5 hrs  the route I went - Ilea Conduit

roosterado

ultiron

daemon_primarch

As a registered organ donor, I get joy in knowing that one day I might piss somebody else's pants.

The_Cow_Tipper

I wonder if this could cause issues with introducing bacteria that's naturally present in the bladder.

hamster_savant

Hold on, we figured out *heart transplants* before this?

Is the bladder way more complex than I think it is?

appa-ate-momo

Considering they've been able to transplant complicated things like heart, lungs, liver, kidneys etc for a long while now, seems like lancing out and hooking up an organic piss bag in another human would've been gravy. Did someone suddenly see money in it?

fedexmess

My bladder sucks, maybe there is hope for me.

ireaditonwikipedia

Wow, that motorcycle rider sure had to piss.

Khaysis

deadupnorth

How they get ya is on the extended warranty

BlueJeans25

*From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh it disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of steel, I aspired to the purity of the blessed machine. Their kind cling to their flesh, as if it will not decay and fail them. One day the crude biomass that they call a temple will wither, and they will beg our kind to save them. But I am already saved, for the machine is immortal...*

Girth-Wind-Fire

I can't imagine how that is put into a person

papeltrucho

That is amazing.  It must be so heavy in his chest though.

ShaiHuludNM

nutrion

wojtekpolska

Is it a constant pump, or does it beat like a heart? As in, would the person stop having a pulse?

EDIT: Googled it and yes, some models use constant flow centrifugal pumps which means the person doesnt have a pulse. Thats creepy.

nailbunny2000

UpgrayeDD405

aabujad

Praise the Omnissiah 

The Adeptus Mechanicus get more real every day 👍

Also this is amazing

Ok_Song4090

How long before it's able to power the Iron Man suit?

maadrew

https://preview.redd.it/3lwlplmt6ooe1.png?width=1080&amp;format=png&amp;auto=webp&amp;s=031a03646d1b01f98ef8537bdc34895eb01abb06

DOKTOR ARE YOU SURE THIS WILL WORK!?

Supreme__Bitch

randomUsername245

Do heart transplant patients die for a few minutes while the doctors do the switch ?

[deleted]

giant_hog_simmons

So the person is immune to heart attacks? They never die out of heart failures? No more blocked arteries?


Can they perform demanding tasks like exercise, etc.?


When does the person die? How long does this last?


Damn! So many questions.

_Floydimus

duckdodgers4

Dat_Scrub

Better aortas. Better valves. Papa John’s.

Blxinxk182

Does it work better than a real heart? I really hate doing my cardio

Cathalisfallingapart

How does the pump know when to spin up ? For example when doing workouts? Or do you have to set the pump into a kind of 'sport mode'?

Anonym0oO

God those tubes looks painful, fair play to him for enduring it..

The idea is to keep the patient alive long enough for a donor heart, 

This Australian man is longest at 105 days and first allowed to leave hospital..

FluffyDiscipline

Why are they using titanium? A single magnetically levitated rotor compared to the other complex artificial heart. It's fucking incredible!  
[https://bivacor.com/](https://bivacor.com/)

fred_flag

Black_RL

kacpermu

Pablo24fit

s_heber_s

![gif](giphy|SJZDlbK1sHUaxIIyC4|downsized)

RGB is the next step

opijkkk

Reminds me of the commercials in Robocop advertising artificial hearts

dikputinya

That’s incredible, although it looks underwhelming. Some pex tubing and some fittings? Looks like a plumber made it.

Ghostpong17

PriestPlaything

Yanni_M

Go-Away-Sun

Hope they’re still alive.  Cyborgs are real.

unzunzhepp

BardicGoon

Anyone else notice the ZIP TIES. Couldn't find anything better to secure those giant hoses 😂

OkAsparagus3709

“it is with a heavy heart” is now extremely relatable for bro

DisembodiedOats

Write-or-Wrong_

imartinezcopy

Wasn’t it only successful for approximately 100 days or something?

Muzi5060

Surely they don't use snipped zip ties in the human body to hold hoses together?

No-Entertainer-840

This is incredibly impressive. Looks really big to me. I wonder how hard it will be to do maintenance on this? Are you going to be making mechanical noises? Kind of awesome, really.  
Do they leave parts of the old heart in or is it a complete replacement? Kind of looks like it's a complete replacement to me. I can't wait to see this more developed. Cyborg age here we come!

EatsAlotOfBread

From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of steel. I aspired to the purity of the Blessed Machine. Your kind cling to your flesh, as though it will not decay and fail you. One day the crude biomass you call a temple will wither, and you will beg my kind to save you. But I am already saved, for the Machine is immortal… Even in death I serve the Omnissiah.

Dontinsultautomod

Richard Norris was 22 years old when he accidentally shot himself in the face. He doesn’t remember how or why it happened but his mother, who was just three feet away from Norris when he shot himself, witnessed the entire thing. She was showered in blood and remnants of her son’s face as his nose, cheekbones, lips, tongue, jaw, and chin were blown off. All that remained was a his wide, brown, shock-filled eyes and a swirl of indiscernible flesh. 

Despite this, he somehow survived, but his fortunate survival forced him to live with his unfortunate circumstances, his horribly disfigured face. He lived like a hermit for 15 years, rarely leaving his house and even covering all of the mirrors in the house. He was miserable, when one day, his mother found a facial reconstruction surgeon from Baltimore named Eduardo Rodrigeuz. 

Eduardo promised Norris that he would make him normal and over the course of the next few years Rodriguez performed over a dozen surgeries on Norris face using Norris’ own flesh to no avail. So Eduardo thought up of a very grand idea; giving Norris a whole new face. 

On March 19th, 2012, the full face transplant began. The face of a recently deceased 21-year-old man was the donor and after 36 hours of non-stop surgery, Norris’ brand new face was finally finished. On that day, he became the first ever person in the world to have a full face transplant.

Jjokes11

Imagine how difficult to process it must be to look in the mirror and not see yourself looking back.
Like some real life quantum leap shit.

82Heyman

bro this doctors resume could literally just be this dudes before and after picture and id hire him on the fucking spot.

this is his magnum opus.

Does he have to take anti rejection drugs and steroids for the rest of his life?  If he rejects his face and it goes necrotic/cellulitic- then what?   Time to wait for a new face while the current one literally rots off?

PBJ-9999

Here's video of him speaking:

https://youtu.be/40OZGpsW4jI?si=k5SDvyTFhMSYJUIg

jonnyhelldiver

Doctor Rodriguez is a skilled man. Considering how bad his face was disfigured , the end results are nothing short of amazing.

The trauma must be horrendous,  live for a long time knowing what you look like, then blow your face out, then live with that grotesque physiognomy for 15 years to only get the face of someone else to live with for the rest of your days. I mean every fucking time you look in the mirro you have no idea who that dude is and yet, it's you. Unreal

ilovereddit787

Imagine meticulously slicing the face from the deceased... the stomach of doctors performing this kind of procedure is incredible.

A picture of him with his original face ought to be posted too.

jkrm66502

I know this story has been reposted to death for upvotes and shows up every few weeks but Richard Norris is not the first recipient of a facial transplant, or of a full facial transplant, even in the US. He was the 4th or 5th full-facial transplant patient in the US. He is on lifelong immunosuppressants and has had kidney failure/a kidney transplant as a result. While the results look good in comparison, this isn't some Face/off movie thing either, he has very limited movement in his face. Also I'm note sure why it's written that how he shot himself is some sort of mystery. It isn't, the detailed version, as told by his mom who witnesses it, is out there and it is pretty clear what happened. He didn't try to kill himself and his mom didn't try to murder him. He was drunk, he was moving a loaded shotgun and accidentally shot himself. Accidental self-inflicted gunshots happen literally all the time, no mystery about it.

datsyukdangles

That’s definitely an improvement. He now looks like a hockey player.

No_Extent_1260

Did he shoot himself with a goddamn blunderbuss?

“If you keep making that face, it’s going to stay like that forever “, no longer true.

Square-Decision-531

The glo up is actually insane. I bet in the facial reconstruction field this is like the Mona Lisa

banned_resurrection

spartikle

Was looking at the first pic and thought it said "World's worst face transplant"

decoran_

No damn way! I can’t believe the story &amp; the fact that they could do that for him! Just WOW 😮

kbm81

&gt; She was showered in blood and remnants of her son’s face as his nose, cheekbones, lips, tongue, jaw, and chin were blown off. All that remained was a his wide, brown, shock-filled eyes and a swirl of indiscernible flesh.

Wow that is… a description! Not sure if I should praise the writer or wonder if they’re paid by the word / number of therapist visits they instigate.

superhappy

YoyoyoyoMrWhite

Damn, he turned himself into an angry muppet, I'm glad he's ok now.

Illustrious_Mind964

Trapinch-isnt-me

How TF do you accidentally shoot yourself in the face with a shotgun????  I’m not buying the accident part.  Bullshit.

Strong-Solution-7492

Potion seller I need your strongest potions

nathanprescott22

voxitron

I had to look up how he’s doing now and holy shit it’s incredible, you’d have to know this story to know he had blown his face off because you’d never know.

[here his is](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/02/21/17/10104290-6730399-image-m-7_1550771383818.jpg) with his partner.

JohnLennonsNotDead

A friend of mine went to school with the person who donated the face. They said it was/is absolutely freaky to see their dead friend's face on someone else.

machpe

Are we all just forgetting about Nicolas Cage and John Travolta??

megamoo7

coachtomfoolery

If I got Tom Cruise’s face would I have to play him in the next Mission Impossible?

Educational_Can_4652

What happens if the body rejects the donors 'face' after the doctors have already removed the tissue from the patients face??

Ok-Equipment-6239

By any chance was this the guy whose injury picture was posted on rotten dot com back in the day?

SteakJones

Caimin_80

I dont know how he looked before but the reconstruction is quite amazing, and he was lucky to survive!

BubblegumNyan

I am going to be 'that guy' here, but there are no "accidents" when it comes to gun safety. They are called "negligent discharges" for a reason, and not "accidental misfires" or something else. 

This guy's face is why gun safety is so important. I do feel bad about what he and his mother went through due to this event, and I do think the outcome is extremely unfortunate for such a quick lapse in safety, but guns sure don't give a shit. 

I am saying this from experience after a decade in the USMC, and seeing way to many negligent discharges due to stupidity. The worst of which was when one of my Corporals was several feet from mowing down a group of civilians while improperly clearing a M240.

Dark_Critical

oh my god, this is a heartwarming story but personally my autism can’t get over the idea of having someone’s face. Like, eerie that he received a 21 year old’s face when that could have been him deceased at 21.

69cansofcorn

Neurturin

And somehow even he has less body hair than me

Stellar_Force

He kind of looks like today's Aborigines

Edit: apologies if I used an offensive term, Im not from Australia and have little to no knowledge of the local culture, but I meant no harm and im sorry if i offended anyone.

VividWriting8553

Surgeons in the US have completed the first human bladder transplant, offering new treatment avenues for severe bladder conditions.

World's First Human Bladder Transplant

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