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Woman grateful for new face
06/02/2006 14:28 - (SA)
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| Isabelle D, the woman who receveid a new nose, chin and mouth in a groundbreaking transplant operation addresses reporters in France. (Michel Spingler, AP) |
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Amiens - The woman who received the world's first partial face transplant appeared for the first time on Monday before the media in northern France, saying "I now have a face like everyone else."
Isabelle Dinoire's speech was heavily slurred and difficult to understand, but she explained how she was disfigured by a dog bite last year and she thanked the family of the donor who gave her new lips, a chin and nose.
A circular scar was still visible where the face tissue was attached in the 15-hour operation on November 27 in Amiens. Dinoire appeared to still have great difficulty moving or even closing her mouth, which often hung open. But in terms of colouring, the match between her own skin and the graft appeared remarkable.
"I expect to resume a normal life ... I pay homage to the donor's family," she said. "My operation could help others to live again."
In a 15-hour operation surgeons used tissues, muscles, arteries and veins from a brain-dead woman to rebuild Dinoire's face.
Dinoire, who was mauled by a dog last May, is from the Lille area in northeastern France.
Doctors said she had initially been having trouble eating and speaking because of her injuries.
Unlike heart, liver and kidney transplants, it was not life-saving surgery, but the operation posed considerable risk for Dinoire.
Dinoire, a divorced mother of two teenage daughters, spoke frankly about the horrific attack in May by her Labrador. She said she was passed out when the dog bit her and that she did not immediately realise the extent of her disfigurement when she awoke.
"When I woke up, I tried to light a cigarette, and I didn't understand why I couldn't hold it between my lips," she said.
She added that she then went to look at herself in a mirror and was horrified by what she saw. She also explained the difficulties of life with disfigurement, saying she suffered stares when she went out.
"I understand all people who have a handicap," she said. - Reuters/AP
- News24
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