Oasis Fm – Tenerife's official British radio station

Full-face transplant man full of the joys - 30.07.2010
A SPANISH farmer who received the world’s first full-face transplant has appeared in public for the first time since his pioneering surgery. The 31-year-old, identified only as Oscar, spoke with considerable difficulty at a news conference on Tuesday as he thanked the medical team who gave him a new face in late March at a Barcelona hospital He said: “I’m very happy to be here and I want to express my gratitude to the hospital and medical team, and to all donors in Spain, especially the family of the man whose face I received.” Vall d’Hebron hospital said Oscar would need up to 18 months of physical therapy and expected him to regain up to 90% of his facial functions. He was horribly disfigured in a shooting accident five years ago, leaving him unable to breathe or eat on his own. Doctors say the new face does not resemble that of the donor, whose identity has not been revealed. Oscar’s sister, who was not named at the conference, said: “We are very happy and content, and very grateful to the hospital because now he can start his new life. “He is looking forward to doing the normal little things in life again ‒ the things we do every day without having any problems ‒ like walking down the street without people looking at him five times. During surgery, on 20^th March, the patient received a transplant of all the skin and muscles of the face, nose, lips, upper jaw, all teeth, palate, cheekbones and jaw, as well as the lacrimal system (the organ which produces tears). The 24-hour operation involved 30 surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and other medical experts. The complicated procedure included plastic surgery and micro-surgery to repair blood vessels. Oscar can now move his eyebrows and upper eyelids, although he is still unable to close his eyes. He can also move his jaw and his cheek muscles, and is even shaving again. He has been on a soft-food diet for one month and is able to drink liquids. He started to speak two months ago and is having speech therapy, physiotherapy and facial therapy. The transplant team expect him to recover full movement during the next 12 to 18 months. However, the treatment has not gone entirely smoothly. Oscar suffered two acute rejections of his new face since the surgery ‒ one after four weeks and the other between the second and third month. Despite these problems, his medical team say Oscar is psychologically robust enough to return home. “He has readily accepted his face with no difficulty, and a few days after the operation he was already able to see his reflection and recognise himself,” they said in a statement. Dr Joan Barret, head of the hospital’s plastic surgery and burns department, said: “It was very brave of him to face everyone- He is a quiet man who wants to live a normal life.”