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Docs Detail Near-Total Face Transplant
Unnamed patient now has 'face to face the world:' surgeon
By Ambreen Ali
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Posted Dec 17, 08 2:29 PM CST
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(Newser)
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Cleveland Clinic officials say the woman who underwent the most comprehensive face transplant yet exhausted conventional options before agreeing to the risky 22-hour procedure in which 80% of her face was replaced with a cadaver’s. The unnamed patient lacked a nose or palate and couldn’t eat or breathe without a special opening to her windpipe. She had been humiliated and ridiculed, USA Today reports.
“We never thought for a moment that our sister would ever have a chance at a normal life again, after the trauma she endured,” a family member said. “But thanks to the wonderful person that donated her organs to help another living human being, she has another chance to live a normal life.”