American who had entire face transplant following horrific shotgun accident becomes a model

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Could it be that they did the same thing for Shekau the terrorist ? No wonder Shekau, Boko haram terrorist's face keeps changing all the time.  So  they have also done face transplant and put it on someone else's face right ? As Nigerian security agents claimed they have killed the original Terrorist. Read full report on the topic after the break..

For fifteen years, Richard Norris had a face too hideous to show. A shotgun accident when he was 22 blew off his nose, cheekbones, lips, tongue, teeth, jaw and chin. He was trying to move the gun from leaning against a cabinet and it accidentally went off, according to Mirror UK. Miraculously, Richard survived, but was left horrifically disfigured.

But thanks to one of the most complex facial transplant surgeries ever performed, his life has changed forever. In fact, Richard now has the kind of swarthy, youthful good looks of a film star.

He gets thousands of fan letters every year and is on the cover of this month’s GQ magazine. Apart from his brown eyes, almost every part of Richard’s face, even his tongue, belonged to someone else. It was taken from a recently deceased 21-year-old and attached to his scalp during pioneering surgery by Eduardo Rodriguez, a Baltimore reconstructive facial surgeon in March 2012.

Despite the success, Richard, now 39, has to take pills every day and be extremely cautious to maintain his health. He cannot get sunburn, a cold drink, alcohol or risk falling. Even a cut could trigger rejection of his face.

He was chosen for the face transplant after more than a dozen operations which attempted to give him functional use of his mouth. Though, Richard managed to keep his eyesight, doctors could not repair his lips, nose or the front of his tongue.

The day-and-a-half operation involved more than 150 doctors, nurses and staff at the University of Maryland Medical Centre. When he saw his new look in the mirror for the first time, Richard was understandably overjoyed.

Experts gave him a new tongue for proper speech, eating and chewing and normally aligned teeth. They also connected his nerves to allow him to smile. Dr. Rodriguez, who led the transplant, says: “It’s a surreal experience to look at him.

“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 stare at him and it’s really amazing,” he said.

After years of going out of his way to avoid people, Richard is now surprisingly comfortable socialising, especially with staff from the hospital.

But while his tranformation has been described as amazing, it will take time for him to recover fully. Medical staff are currently teaching him who has not eaten or spoken properly for 15 years, how to use his fully functional face. He will also have more minor surgery for the soft tissue of his face – such as his eyelids.


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