| ■ First Full Face Transplant Patient Thanks Donor's Family | 2010.07.30 |
| In his first public appearance, the Spanish man who received the world's first full face transplant thanked the donor's family and the medical team who performed the surgery. The 31-year-old patient, identified only as Oscar, suffered severe facial injuries in a shooting accident five years ago and was unable to breathe, swallow or talk properly. Using plastic surgery and micro-neurovascular reconstructive surgery techniques, the surgeons transplanted muscles, lips, nose, maxilla, palate, mandible, all teeth, and cheekbones, during a 24-hour long operation March 20 at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona, the AP reported. Oscar struggles to speak clearly and still requires months of physical therapy. |