(WIDK by Meggan Gittens) - After living in hiding for 15 years, a Virginia man underwent surgery that changed his life.
In 1997 a gun accident left Richard Lee Norris with a shattered face. After 12 plastic surgeries, the now 37-year-old victim can regain his life after successfully undergoing what doctors after calling the ‘world’s most extensive face transplant.’
According to Vitals, the transplant, which was done at the University of Maryland Medical Center, was a 36-hour operation that included a transplant of the upper and low jaw, teeth, tongue and facial tissue from the hairline to the neck.
A week after his surgery, chief of plastic, reconstructive and maxillofacial surgery, Dr. Edwardo Rodriguez, says that Norris, already able to brush his teeth and shave, is doing better then expected.
