Extensive Face Transplant Gives One Man Back His Life

Richard Norris lost his lips, nose, and front portion of his tongue in a gun accident at the age of 22. For the past 15 years, he has been hiding behind a surgical mask, living as a recluse.

Last week, Doctors at the University of Maryland performed a 36-hour face transplant surgery – the most extensive one to date. Doctors replaced the tongue, teeth, and upper and lower jaws. One anonymous donor supplied all of those parts for Norris, and also supplied a heart, two lungs, a liver and a kidney that spared five other patients.

Norris is the first transplant candidate for this kind of facial reconstruction. After an initial interview with dentist and surgeon, Eduardo Rodriguez, Rodriguez knew he could help him to put food in his mouth again and fix much of his face, but they were waiting for the perfect donor. The surgery involved more than 150 doctors and other staff members from University of Maryland Medical Center and went beautifully. Fortunately, Norris was one of a few victims of ballistic injury who did retain his vision, so he was able to see what the doctors did. He could not stop commenting on how cool it was to have his face and his life back. He still has to remain in the hospital for a month, and remain under observation for another three months to ensure that his body does not reject the new additions to his face.

The surgery was made possible by a decade of research that the Office of Naval Research funded in hopes of expanding facial reconstruction possibilities for those who are injured by makeshift bombs.

See Maggie Fazeli Fard, Face Transplant for Virginia Man is Lauded as Most Extensive in History, The Washington Post, Mar. 27, 2012.