The Most Extensive Face Transplant in History is a Huge Success

 

After a gun accident destroyed over half of his face, Richard Lee Norris spent 15 years living in hiding. He spent nearly all his time in indoors, and when he did venture outside he cloaked himself in a baseball cap and surgical mask. The shame was debilitating. At 37-years old, he had no job, no social life, and had never married.
Now, seven months after undergoing what has been called the most extensive face transplant in history, Norris is making his way back into the world. The operation, which took nearly 36 hours to complete and required a team of over 150 medical experts, included transplanting teeth, the upper and lower jaw, a portion of the tongue and facial tissue from the scalp to the base of the neck.

According to the Guardian, when Norris first saw his new face in a mirror, he was lost for words. Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, the lead surgeon in the operation, described Norris’s reaction when he first looked in the mirror “as one of the most emotional moments for him as well as for all of us. He put down the mirror and thanked me and hugged me, which was a wonderful gift …”

At the press conference to announce the surgery’s success, Rodriguez gave these final words:

“It is 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 … Now they have another reason to look at him, and it is really amazing.”