Founder and prexy of MarketCast, Joseph Helfgot, who died last week at the age of 60 during heart transplant surgery, has become the second facial transplant donor in the U.S.
Helfgot’s family also re-donated the heart that had been transplanted as well as his liver.
“To the end, he was a trailblazer, leaving a legacy that we are proud to say included the ultimate gift, namely, a new face, a re-transplanted heart and liver, allowing three individuals to survive, a final testament to Joseph’s legacy as the son of Auschwitz survivors,” his family said in a statement.
Speaking to “Good Morning America” on Tuesday, Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, the surgeon who performed the facial transplant at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said they were “cautiously optimistic” about the recipient’s recovery following the 17-hour surgery.
Helfgot founded MarketCast, a media market research firm, in 1985 and sold the company to Daily Variety parent company Reed Business in 2000 but stayed on as president.
