Connie Culp: Before, After and Now with a NEW Face

Tags:: Connie Culp, First, Faces, Transplant, Before, Apres, Science, Medecine, Hospitals, Hopital, Hastane, Doctors, Nurses, Doktor, Doku, Nakli, Ameliyat, Operation, Intervention, Nouveau, Beau, Belle, Visage, Estetique

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Four years ago, the Hopedale, Ohio, resident was shot in the face by her husband.

Four more years, she had no nose. The bony structure that once supported her face was gone, as was most of her face. She could not breathe other than through a tracheotomy, could not smell, could not even drink or eat normally.

Several dozen reconstructive surgeries didn't help much.

Then, this past December, Connie became the first person in the world to receive a full face transplant.

Surgeons removed not just the skin, but the bony structures underneath, the nerves, facial muscles, lower eyelids, the palate from a local donor and in a 22 hour surgery attached the donor face to Connie.

On Tuesday May 5th, Connie and her new face addressed the world for the first time.

Doctors say the facial nerves that they reattached will slowly regenerate, giving her the ability to show emotion. Connie is able to smell and taste again, she can drink coffee from a cup, and breathe from her new nose. Specialists say her pain, which was constant before is nearly gone.