HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — After a work accident in 2021, Aaron James spent most of his time between hospital rooms.
But for the first time since the accident, he gets to spend Thanksgiving at home, all thanks to a breakthrough eye and face transplant surgery. And he's not the only one excited; it's the chance for some of his family to see his new face in person for the first time.
On June 10, 2021, Aaron James' wife, Megan James, got a call that her husband had been in an accident while working on a power line.
"I couldn't wrap my head around what was going on," Megan James said. "I just kept saying, 'What do I need to do?'"
Aaron James had touched a live wire, losing most of his left arm, his left eye, nose and front teeth.
But this May, a groundbreaking surgery would change everything.
"It never bothered me how we looked or anything, but it bothered me how he felt about it," Megan James said. "I knew he wanted this."
Aaron James also received the first human eye transplant as part of the face transplant.
Doctors are hopeful that not only will the new eye help Aaron James see, but what they can learn from his journey can help more patients going forward.
"I'm the first to get one ever, so that opens up a whole new line of medical things that can start helping," Aaron James said.
And while the surgery has brought international attention to him, this week, Aaron James is just grateful to be back at a kitchen table.
"That's the first Thanksgiving we've had in two years," Aaron James said.
His family set up an early holiday meal this past weekend where Aaron James could eat his first complete Thanksgiving dinner since the accident.
"I think you had the biggest plate," Megan James said in a video of Aaron James eating at the table.
Another reason to be thankful for this holiday is that it was the first time some of his family could see his new face in person.
"Never did I imagine I'd be sitting here," Aaron James said.
According to Aaron James, he's happy to be sitting with his family in Arkansas because even when he woke up from the groundbreaking surgery, he couldn't help but wait to return home.
"I was just sitting there looking out the window at all of New York City," Aaron James said. "I just started calling the Hogs right there."
The James family is still traveling to New York for check-ins, but doctors said Aarons James' surgery is healing well.
Up next, the family is looking forward to a Christmas in Arkansas.