The French woman who received a new nose, chin and mouth in a groundbreaking transplant operation has taken strolls in public without drawing stares, her surgeon said in an interview published today.

THE first post-surgery words of a woman who underwent the world's first partial face transplant were "thank you", and she has since been able to eat strawberries and chocolate, her doctors said yesterday.

The director of a hospital that conducted the world’s first partial face transplant today said the surgery was required because the recipient’s case was exceptional.

DOCTORS who gave a French woman the world’s first partial face transplant have been accused of ignoring ethical advice by not trying normal reconstructive surgery first.