Face transplant man thanks donor’s family
Speaking at a press conference at a hospital in Seville, the patient named only as Rafael, said: “I am full of joy and happiness. I want to thank the family of the donor and the medical team.”
Rafael was the second person in Spain and the ninth in the world to receive a partial face transplant.
He appeared before the media at the Virgen del Rocio Hospital in the southern city, where he underwent a 30-hour operation on January 26 and 27.
He has since been released from hospital, feels pain, heat and cold in his face, and has started shaving.
Rafael still has difficulty speaking clearly as he is not expected to regain complete control over his tongue for another three months. His face is still inflamed.
He told reporters he is a fan of Seville football team Real Betis and is looking forward to going back to their stadium to watch a match.
Rafael appeared at the press conference alongside his mother Juana and sister Belen, who held his hand throughout.
He asked for his privacy to be respected, saying: “Please, after this press conference I want you to leave me, my family and my friends in peace.”
The doctors said the transplant involved the patient receiving donor tissue for the lower two-thirds of his face.
The first part of the transplant involved removing the facial tissue, blood vessels and nerve endings from the donor.
The second part involved attaching them to the patient.
The doctors said receptors do not end up with the face of the donor, as the tissue adapts itself to the bone structure of the receptor.
Rafael spent five weeks in intensive care and a week in the burns unit before being moved to a regular hospital bed on March 15.
Surgeon Tomas Gomez Cia, who lead the transplant team, described the patient as “an incredibly brave person”.
Dr Gonzalez Padilla, director of maxillofacial surgery at the hospital, said the patient “recognised himself” when he first saw himself in a mirror after the surgery, and added: “He didn’t see himself as a monster, in fact he thought he looked younger.”
Rafael suffered since birth from the congenital disease neurofibromatosis type 1, formerly known as von Recklinghausen disease, a genetic problem which causes cells to grow abnormally. He had benign tumours on two thirds of his face as a result.
Since Rafael’s operation, surgeons in Barcelona have carried out the world’s first full face transplant.
A farmer whose face was deformed in a shooting accident five years ago was the patient at the city’s Vall d’Hebron Hospital.
