Man recovering after world’s first life-saving face transplant

A Pole whose doctors claim has received the world’s first life-saving face transplant appeared in public for the first time as physicians said he was ready to go home.

Identified only as Grzegorz, the 33-year-old man wore dark sunglasses and walked with ease, but was unable to make himself understood when speaking to reporters at a hospital in Gliwice, southern Poland.

The man, an employee at a stonemason’s workshop, was severely maimed on April 23, when a machine used to cut stone ripped out a large chunk of his face.

The transplant — without which physicians claim Grzegorz would not have survived — took place on May 15 during a marathon 27-hour-long operation during which he remained fully conscious.

The patient’s speech should be back to normal within nine months, said Professor Adam Maciejewski, who led the team of transplant surgeons.

Grzegorz can see, read and taste flavours, his sister Barbara said, adding that he requested duck for his first meal at home.

French doctors carried out the world’s first successful face transplant in 2005 on Isabelle Dinoire, a 38-year-old woman who had been mauled by her dog, though her life was not in danger.

Since then, over 20 transplants have been carried out worldwide, including in Belgium, Spain, Turkey and the US.