A man who lot half of his face in a horrific accident has had it reconstructed along with a pioneering eye transplant.

Aaron James suffered serious and life-changing injures after surviving a high-voltage electrical accident, and needed 21 hours of surgery to replace half of his face.

As part of the reconstruction, surgeons in New York also performed the world’s first complete eye transplant on a man, however, it is not yet known whether he will regain his vision, according to reports from the BBC.

Experts have called it a pivotal moment in the journey to restoring sight, with successful corneal transplants having existed for several years.

James, who is from Arkansas and is a high-voltage utility line worker, lost most of his face after accidentally touching a 7,200-volt live wire in 2021.

His left eye had to be removed due to the fact it was causing him so much pain after the accident, but James can still see out of his right eye.

He underwent the rare partial face transplant surgery in May this year as well as the full eye transplant, which required over 140 healthcare professionals involved in his care. He is only the 19th person in the US to have undergone a face transplant.

James, 46, is reportedly doing well recovering from the complicated surgery and the donated eye is looking healthy according to surgeons from NYU Langone Health, who performed the operation.

Dr Eduardo Rodriguez, one of the leading surgeons on the team, told ABC News: “The mere fact that we’ve accomplished the first successful whole-eye transplant with a face is a tremendous feat many have long thought was not possible.

“We’ve made one major step forward and have paved the way for the next chapter to restore vision.”

Surgeons have not ruled out the possibility Aaron James may one day see through the transplanted eye. Credit: Thierry Dosogne/Getty Images

James’s surgery will give doctors and unprecedented look at how the human eye attempts to heal, in the hopes that restoring vision could become a feasible possibility in future years.

Dr Rodriguez added: “We’re not claiming that we are going to restore sight, but there’s no doubt in my mind we are one step closer.”

Doctors have said there is direct blood flow to the retina, which is the part of the eye that sends images to the brain, so while there is no guarantee James will ever see through his new eye, they are not ruling out the possibility that he – or others undergoing similar surgeries – one day might.

James is happy either way, adding: “If I can see out of it, that’s great, but if it’ll kick-start the next path in the medical field, then I’m all for it.”

The military veteran will continue to be closely monitored by medics, but they say his progress so far has been “exceptional”, after receiving the face and eye from a single male donor in his 30s.

Doctors also injected adult stem cells from the donor’s bone marrow into the optic nerve to encourage its repair, and so far the healing they have seen has been good.

His wife, Meagan James, who has been married to him for 20 years, told CNN about how she felt after seeing her husband following the surgery.

She explained: “It was a crazy, great, weird, strange, ecstatic, happy feeling. I was just happy he made it through, and everything was good in the moment.”

James, who has undergone many surgeries since the accident – including getting a prosthetic arm – said he is “grateful beyond words” to his donor and their family for allowing the surgery to go ahead and has deemed the eye transplant “life-changing”, telling NBC News: “I just look like a normal person walking down the street.”