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Patients of Courage | Robert Chelsea

Driving home from church, Robert Chelsea pulled his disabled car over to the shoulder. As he waited for help, a drunk driver slammed into his car, causing it to explode and burn more than 60 percent of Robert's body, including his face. This tragedy, in Robert's words, "turned into a triumph" because he doesn't view his burn experience as a mishap but rather as a wake-up call to allow him to better serve God in ways he did not previously imagine. Robert believed God revealed an "unexplainable joy" in him while in a coma for six months and during his more than four years of recovery. Robert's faith has continued to grow exponentially as he became the first African American to receive a full-face transplant, and his life mission is now laser-focused on bringing awareness regarding the needs of the disabled diaspora, whether it's burn survivors, amputees or transplant recipients, along with their need for mental health support.

Through critical donations to the Robert Chelsea Foundation, he now travels everywhere possible to encourage other African Americans, students and the public at large to consider organ donation and to advocate for racial parity within the medical system.