Beato inspired by face surgeryWants to help others

By BRENDALY BEATO

BHSB Journalism Student

It’s been a little more than a year since the most extensive face transplant in history. Firefighter and transplant recipient Patrick Hardison says he has his life back, while his doctor says: “This is the third face that Patrick lives with.”

Hardison’s face had been totally disfigured. He suffered extensive facial burns after responding to a house fire in 2001. He lost his eyelids, ears, lips, hair, and most of his nose. He used to use sunglasses to cover his face. Now he can live a normal life.

The year in which Hardison suffered those tragic burns was before I was born. Though we would never want to see someone like him pass through that condition, working on his case was surely an amazing challenge. It would have been an honor to help him have a better life by restructuring his face.

Beato: Hardison surgery an "amazing challenge"

My professional goal is to be a surgeon. Being a surgeon attracts me because I like medicine, and I like that I would be able to help others to feel comfortable as I did my work. 

My aunt is a surgeon, so I can question her, and learn from the information she gives me. From my research, I learned that surgeons earn $90 per hour, and $187,000 per year. I also learned that the medical operations surgeons perform are very expensive.

Being a surgeon is a profession that involves learning about our bodies. It teaches us a branch of science that many do not know. You can exercise this profession anywhere in the world, and many lives would depend on you. For example, if you study medicine in the United States army, you can finish the preparation faster and provide your services to the country.

Being a surgeon comes from being passionate and answering a calling.  It's a profession that makes you save lives. It can also be about helping people feel better and more comfortable with their own selves. There are some people who have external or internal medical problems that need surgery. Some examples could include having a disrupted vertebral column, or a transplant fracture.



Brendaly Beato is from the Dominican Republic, and has been in New York for little more than 18 months. She says school is good because she learns to be better every day through the new skills and strategies she develops.