First U.S. full face transplant patient
Dallas Wiens, who in March became the first person in the United States to receive a full face transplant, described the simple joys of holding his daughter, Scarlette, and smelling lasagna again as he prepared to leave Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital Monday (May 9) for his Texas home. Wiens appeared at a news conference with physicians who have been key to his treatment since a horrific 2008 accident left him literally “a man without a face.” Wiens’ face was destroyed when a cherry picker he was working in came into contact with electric wires. Plastic surgeons at Parkland Hospital in Texas saved Wiens’ life, but wound up removing much of the tissue from his face and replacing it with skin from his back. The nearly two dozen operations he endured saved his life, but left his face featureless. He was unable to smell and had difficulty breathing. His eyesight was destroyed...