Face Transplant Recipient Urges Kindness
May 6, 2009 by Peggy Rowland
Filed under Women's Health
Don’t judge people who don’t look as pretty as you was the message from Connie Culp, recipient of the first near total face transplant in the US.
Culp spoke briefly during a recent news conference, making her identity known for the first time since the surgery. Although face transplantation has its critics, doctors in Culp’s case stress that this wasn’t a cosmetic surgery. The gunshot victim was in pain, had to breath through a surgical opening in her neck and couldn’t eat solid foods or taste anything.
Connie Culp after an injury to her face and as she appears today.
Now, just five months since the face transplant, Culp has regained many of the abilities she lost in 2004. She can now eat solid foods and drink from a cup. She’s also steadily developing the use of facial muscles in the transplantation area.
The face transplant will require Culp to take immunosuppressants for the rest of her life to avoid rejecting the new tissue. However, it certainly seems like the quality of life she’s gained is worth it.
Culp now feels like she can go out in public without being made fun of, and her main message in the news conference was to please be kind to those with facial disfigurements. She was also very grateful to the deceased donor who gave her the nose, upper lip and cheekbones that now make up her face. You can read more about this story at CNN.
If you’re an organ donor, how do you feel about donating facial parts?
(Image via Newscom)
