The Match

Complete Strangers, a Miracle Face Transplant, Two Lives Transformed

Nonfiction, Health & Well Being, Medical, Surgery, Biography & Memoir, Reference
Cover of the book The Match by Susan Whitman Helfgot, Simon & Schuster
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Susan Whitman Helfgot ISBN: 9781439195512
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Publication: October 12, 2010
Imprint: Simon & Schuster Language: English
Author: Susan Whitman Helfgot
ISBN: 9781439195512
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication: October 12, 2010
Imprint: Simon & Schuster
Language: English

Joseph Helfgot, the son of Holocaust survivors, worked his way from a Lower East Side tenement to create a successful Hollywood research company. But his heart was failing. After months of waiting for a heart transplant, he died during the operation.

Hours after his death, his wife Susan was asked a shocking question: would she donate her husband’s face to a total stranger?

The stranger was James Maki, the adopted son of parents who spent part of World War II in an internment camp for Japanese Americans. Rebelling against his stern father, a professor, by enlisting to serve in Vietnam, he returned home a broken man, addicted to drugs. One night he fell facedown onto the electrified third rail of a Boston subway track.

A young Czech surgeon who was determined to make a better life on the other side of the Iron Curtain was on call when the ambulance brought Maki to the hospital. Although Dr. Bohdan Pomahac gave him little chance of survival, Maki battled back. He was sober and grateful for a second chance, but he became a recluse, a man without a face. His only hope was a controversial face transplant, and Dr. Pomahac made it happen.

In The Match, Susan Whitman Helfgot captures decades of drama and history, taking us from Warsaw to Japan, from New York to Hollywood. Through wars and immigration, poverty and persecution, from a medieval cadaver dissection to a stunning seventeen-hour face transplant, she weaves together the story of people forever intertwined—a triumphant legacy of hope.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Joseph Helfgot, the son of Holocaust survivors, worked his way from a Lower East Side tenement to create a successful Hollywood research company. But his heart was failing. After months of waiting for a heart transplant, he died during the operation.

Hours after his death, his wife Susan was asked a shocking question: would she donate her husband’s face to a total stranger?

The stranger was James Maki, the adopted son of parents who spent part of World War II in an internment camp for Japanese Americans. Rebelling against his stern father, a professor, by enlisting to serve in Vietnam, he returned home a broken man, addicted to drugs. One night he fell facedown onto the electrified third rail of a Boston subway track.

A young Czech surgeon who was determined to make a better life on the other side of the Iron Curtain was on call when the ambulance brought Maki to the hospital. Although Dr. Bohdan Pomahac gave him little chance of survival, Maki battled back. He was sober and grateful for a second chance, but he became a recluse, a man without a face. His only hope was a controversial face transplant, and Dr. Pomahac made it happen.

In The Match, Susan Whitman Helfgot captures decades of drama and history, taking us from Warsaw to Japan, from New York to Hollywood. Through wars and immigration, poverty and persecution, from a medieval cadaver dissection to a stunning seventeen-hour face transplant, she weaves together the story of people forever intertwined—a triumphant legacy of hope.

More books from Simon & Schuster

Cover of the book Nancy Reagan by Susan Whitman Helfgot
Cover of the book Delete by Susan Whitman Helfgot
Cover of the book Nearing Ninety by Susan Whitman Helfgot
Cover of the book Animal's People by Susan Whitman Helfgot
Cover of the book The Twins and the Bird of Darkness by Susan Whitman Helfgot
Cover of the book Anatomy of a Genocide by Susan Whitman Helfgot
Cover of the book Clients for Life by Susan Whitman Helfgot
Cover of the book Roo the Roaring Dinosaur: Best Playday Ever! by Susan Whitman Helfgot
Cover of the book Dirty John and Other True Stories of Outlaws and Outsiders by Susan Whitman Helfgot
Cover of the book Calico Girl by Susan Whitman Helfgot
Cover of the book Return to Exile by Susan Whitman Helfgot
Cover of the book The Stone Monkey by Susan Whitman Helfgot
Cover of the book Matchbook by Susan Whitman Helfgot
Cover of the book Black Monday by Susan Whitman Helfgot
Cover of the book Gilbert the Hero by Susan Whitman Helfgot
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy