dr. eduardo rodriguez at nyu's langdon medical center. >> the reality is we can make you much worse thanou are now. if this were not to work, we've actually made you worse than you were before. so you completely understand this, right? >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: willing to risk his life. >> it's in god's hands. it will happen when he's ready for it to happen. >> reporter: the father of five well aware that his surgery would only be possible with another family's loss. >> i pray for them daily because i cannot imagine losing somebody at a young age and then having to be asked to give what they're asking to give. >> reporter: it took two years to find the right donor, nancy millar's son david. because face transplants are still experimental, they first needed nancy to agree. >> when the doctors asked me if i would donate his face -- i said, of course. and of course at the time i was thinking just parts of his face. and they said, no, we mean the whole face. and they looked at me and they -- i said, of course. i mean, no hesitation. it didn't matter. >> reporter: just two days later -- pat i