Electrocuted man gets full face transplant

A cherry picker horrifically injured in an electric shock has successfully received the United States' first full face transplant, a Boston hospital said on Monday.

Dallas Wiens, 25, can look forward to a new life with a donated face attached last week by a 30-strong team at Brigham and Women's Hospital, which said it was "the first full face transplant" performed in the country.

"Today's tremendous news marks a new milestone in Brigham and Women's legacy in transplant surgery. The pioneering achievement by the entire transplant team is a gift made possible by the most selfless act one human being can do for another, organ donation," hospital president Betsy Nable said.

Wiens, from Texas, was injured in November 2008 when his head touched a high voltage electrical wire. The burns literally erased his face.

Plastic surgeon Bohdan Pomahac led the team of physicians, nurses and anesthesiologists for over 15 hours to replace Wiens's "nose, lips, facial skin, muscles of facial animation and the nerves that power them to provide sensation," a statement said.

First-of-its-kind
kidney transplant
for Emirati

French medics
conduct world first
full face transplant

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