Recluse gets new face with transplant

After 15 years of wearing a mask and living as a recluse, a US man who lost his lips, nose and teeth in a gun accident has received the most extensive face transplant to date, according to doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Richard Lee Norris, 37, had undergone several lifesaving and reconstructive surgeries after the accident but had limited use of his mouth and, before the surgery, appeared as though his lower face and nose had been mashed in.

In a 36-hour operation on Mar 19 and 20, doctors at the medical centre carried out “the most extensive full face transplant completed to date, including both jaws, teeth, and tongue,” the centre said.

“The transplant included all facial soft tissue from the scalp to the neck, including the underlying muscles to enable facial expression, and sensory and motor nerves to restore feeling and function,” chief plastic surgeon Eduardo Rodriguez said in a statement.

“Our goal is to restore function as well as have aesthetically pleasing results,” he added.

Norris had spent the past 15 years living as a recluse, wearing a surgical mask and only shopping at night in order to avoid the staring of others.

The world’s first full face transplant took place in Spain, with doctors at Vall d’Hebron hospital in Barcelona showing off their work in July 2010.

The first successful partial face transplant was performed in France in 2005 on Isabelle Dinoire, a 38-year-old woman who had been mauled by her dog.

Norris is recovering well after the surgery, beginning to feel his face and already brushing his teeth and shaving. He’s also regained his sense of smell, which he had lost after the accident.

Norris was selected from among five possible candidates for the surgery. “It’s a surreal experience to look at him. It’s hard not to stare. Before, people used to stare at Richard because he wore a mask and they wanted to see the deformity,” said Rodriguez.

“Now, they have another reason to stare at him, and it’s really amazing.”

Rodriguez showed a 1993 photo of Norris, “as we all want to be remembered,” beside a pre-transplant photo of Norris’ shortened face with a sunken mouth and flattened nose. He then revealed a photo of Norris taken on Monday, where his face appears ordinary, other than stitches along his hairline and neck and scarring around his eyelids.

Doctors gave few details about the donor, citing the family’s desire for privacy. They said the donor’s organs went to several people. But the donor’s family was consulted specifically about donating the face, Charles Alexander, president of the Living Legacy Foundation said. The most dramatic moment of the 36-hour operation was when the team had finished removing all the previous attempts at reconstruction.

All Norris had left was a bit of tongue and minimal protection for his eyes.

Rodriguez called it the point of no return.

“At that point, we had to be successful,” he said.

Norris will require minor revisions, but those will be outpatient procedures, he said. Officials provided little detail on Norris or the circumstances of the accident that took his face.

He graduated from high school in his small southwest Virginia hometown in 1993 and was employed at the time of the accident. Since then, he has lived with his parents and has not had a full-time job.

“This accidental injury just destroyed everything.

“The rest of his friends and colleagues went on to start getting married, having children, owning homes,” Rodriguez said. “He wants to make up for all of that.”