Connie Culp (age 46 in 2009) is the first ever United States recipient of a face transplant, performed at the Cleveland Clinic in December 2008.
Contents
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* 1 Facial disfigurement
* 2 Recovery
* 3 See also
* 4 References
[edit] Facial disfigurement
Mrs. Culp was shot in the face by her husband Thomas G. "Tom" Culp in a failed murder-suicide in September 2004 outside a bar in Hopedale, Ohio. He survived as well and was convicted in 2005 of aggravated attempted murder with a 7-year prison sentence.[1] Culp forgave her husband at the sentencing and said she will be waiting when he gets out of prison.[2][3]
[edit] Recovery
Connie Culp, before and after the operation.
The shotgun blast shattered her nose, cheeks, the roof of her mouth and an eye. She underwent 30 operations prior to the face transplant on December 10, 2008. Surgeon Maria Siemionow led a team of doctors in a 22-hour operation which replaced 80 percent of Culp's face with the face from another woman who had recently died.
Her nose was rebuilt and some of the disfigurement repaired in the operation.[4] The Associated Press reported that Culp was able to breathe on her own and eat solid food following the transplant, adding "Ms. Culp’s expressions are still a bit wooden, and she remains blind [5], but she can talk, smile, smell and taste food again, and has learned braille. Her speech is at times difficult to understand. Her face is bloated and squarish, and her skin droops in folds that doctors plan to pare away as her circulation improves and her nerves grow, animating new muscles." She now works as an advocate fostering understanding for victims of burns or other disfigurements.[6]
