Heart transplants, kidney transplants, liver transplants are all considered quite common procedures nowadays by the public, despite their complexity of which only doctors and some patients seem to be aware of. Things start looking grim, however, when you don’t need an organ but facial reconstructive surgery.

 

In our increasingly shallow society, your face is what people base their first impression of you on. If imperfections and dissimilarities are frowned upon, one can only imagine what reactions are generated by a disfigured face or a facial deformity.

 

Such was the story of a woman who lost most of her face and its functions due to trauma, and whose only chance at having a face was a face transplant from a cadaver. The woman’s nose and palate are missing, along with other skin fragments. The trauma has left her unable to eat and even to breathe without a windpipe. The procedure, which lasted for 23 hours, is the first in the country and the fourth in the entire world.

The surgical team that conducted the surgery was led by Dr. Maria Siemionow, who has researched this type of procedures for over 20 years.

 

The tissue they collected from the donor was carefully attached to the woman’s face. It turned pink after the blood vessels were connected, which meant that the tissue was not rejected. However, it may b rejected in the future, despite the fact that the woman will be on immunosuppresors for the rest of her life.

 

The woman has awoken from the heavy sedation needed for the 23-hour surgery, and Dr. Siemionow stated that “I must tell you how happy she was when with both her hands she could go over her face and feel that she has a nose, feel that she has a jaw.”