The American's face was restored. Man with a new face

Richard Lee Norris "lost" his face in an accident when he was 22 years old and accidentally shot himself in the face with a shotgun. However, everything did not happen so accidentally. That day, Richard returned home drunk and quarreled with his own mother. In the heat of the moment, he grabbed a shotgun and threatened to kill himself. In fact, he did not intend to kill himself at all, it was just that the scenario of the quarrel turned out that way. So, Richard went out into the corridor, still with a shotgun in his hands, and at that moment a shot rang out... His face literally exploded - fragments of his jaws, pieces of his lips and tongue, pieces of his cheeks were everywhere, including on his mother, dumbfounded in horror ...

Since then, Richard's life has become a real hell. His face was disfigured beyond recognition - it was as if he was no longer there. So, the bones on the lower half of his face were crushed to pieces, and it was as if nothing was left of his jaws, his nose turned into a shapeless something, and only a part of his tongue remained. How did he live all these long years, more than ten years, Richard doesn’t even want to remember - he constantly had to hide himself from the world; He went shopping under cover of darkness, and there was no question of going out somewhere and relaxing. He also came into close contact with human cruelty, which he had never known about before, while he was “normal.” Every day was a nightmare for him, over the years he plunged into depression, tried to suppress it with alcohol and even drugs, and more than once thought about taking his own life...

But everything changes, and over the years medicine has not stood still, and in 2012 Richard was offered unique operation for facial reconstruction, to which he, of course, agreed.

A team of surgeons led by Eduardo Rodriguez from medical center Medical Center's R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland performed a unique operation, as a result of which Richard got a new face. The operation lasted 36 hours and became one of the largest face transplant operations in the history of medicine.

This was a very serious decision for everyone - both for the doctors and for Richard himself, because the chances that he would survive the transplant were estimated no higher than 50 to 50. Alas, when the operation had already begun, it was no longer possible to turn back - there was waiting ahead or complete success, or complete nothing. The main thing is that rejection does not occur.

Richard Lee Norris was lucky - his body took on a new face, and after some time he saw himself in the mirror for the first time. It was him, and at the same time it was not him at all - a completely alien, unfamiliar face was looking at 39-year-old Richard from the mirror. By the way, many donors were involved in facial reconstruction for Richard, and therefore his appearance can now be called “collective.” However, the main donor is still known - this is 21-year-old American Joshua Aversano, who died in a road accident.

Be that as it may, Richard's new face was no comparison to the nightmare he lived with. last years. After a few months, he was rehabilitated, and life gradually began to return to normal. He was surprised to discover that people on the streets no longer wring their necks to get a better look at his face, and, in addition, he began to eat and chew food normally, and even learned to smile a little.

Of course, the risk of rejection always exists, and Richard had to come to terms with this now, and he will continue to live with it. But still, “life with a face” became for him simply a new birth, and before that it was as if he had not lived, but was simply dragging out his existence, hating himself and everyone who saw his face.

Now he rediscovers life in all its delights - the joy of communication, sports, fishing, walks around the city. And after all these years, Richard became kinder - having suffered from evil and indifferent people, he will never allow himself to be a boor and an ignoramus, he knows perfectly well how much just one annoying look, a crooked grin, a whisper behind his back can sometimes hurt.

Richard Lee Norris is eternally grateful to the doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center who gave him new life, because, as it turned out, before terrible incident he did not value his life at all, did not rejoice in his health, but only took everything for granted.

Now, with a new face, he is grateful to every new day and to everyone who took part in his destiny.

In 1997, the face of American Richard Lee Norris was disfigured by a gunshot. His life was saved, but his face was not. Over the course of 15 years, Richard underwent 12 plastic surgeries, but they did not help. Richard was waiting for technology to appear that could return him to his normal appearance. All this time he tried to avoid people...

On March 21, an anonymous donor donated his organs to Norris and several other patients. Dozens of doctors who had been studying Richard's case for several years took up the case. Six days after the operation, Richard was able to move his tongue and open and close his eyes. Having recovered from anesthesia, the patient first asked for a mirror, after which he hugged his attending physician.

Richard Lee Norris was mutilated beyond recognition 15 years ago. He lost his nose, lips, tongue, teeth. He is now 37 years old.

Pictured: Richard Lee Norris before the accident, before and after plastic surgery.
Photo provided March 27, 2012 by University of Maryland Medical Center, USA.

American doctors performed a unique face transplant operation on Richard Lee Norris. The operation was prepared for several years. The team of doctors and surgeons was led by Eduardo Rodriguez, chief surgeon at the Maryland Medical Center.

REUTERS/Patrick Smith

Richard Lee Norris underwent the most extensive and longest plastic surgery in history. In 36 hours, the shooting victim received not only facial skin, but also a nose, jaw, teeth and even a tongue.

REUTERS/Patrick Smith

Eduardo Rodriguez, chief surgeon at the Maryland Medical Center: “After surgery, Richard Lee Norris can move his jaw and open and close his mouth. We have to teach him to eat and drink again. He is now on a liquid diet. He can move his tongue and open and close his eyes. Looking in the mirror, he begins to get used to the fact that it is his face. And he even started brushing his teeth, which we didn’t expect.”

Pictured: March 27, 2012. Eduardo Rodriguez speaks at a conference at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, USA.

The patient managed to regain not only his face, but also his facial expressions, voice, sense of smell, and skin sensitivity. In general, everything that he lost many years ago as a result of a tragic incident.

In the photo: March 27, 2012. Conference at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, USA.
Gail Burton/The Associated Press

Eduardo Rodriguez, chief surgeon at the Maryland Medical Center: “We produced complete transplant bones, skin, subcutaneous tissue, the muscles that are responsible for facial expression and nerves.”

In the photo: scan-computer diagnostics of the facial part of the skull: on the right - before the accident, in the center - after the accident, on the left - after surgery.
University of Maryland Medical Center

In the photo: March 27, 2012. Conference at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, USA.
REUTERS/Patrick Smith

Richard Norris's operation was paid for by the US Department of Defense. It hopes that the experience gained will help return to normal life soldiers injured in hot spots. There are now about 200 veterans in America who may need the same operation.

Pictured: March 27, 2012. Eduardo Rodriguez answers questions at a conference at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, USA.
REUTERS/Patrick Smith

Pictured: March 27, 2012. Eduardo Rodriguez speaks at a conference at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, USA.
REUTERS/Patrick Smith

In the photo: Richard Lee Norris after plastic surgery. Richard hid from people and waited for technology to reach high level. Photo provided March 27, 2012 by University of Maryland Medical Center, USA.
AFP PHOTO / UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDICAL CENTER

Pictured: Richard Lee Norris after the accident. Richard hid from people and waited for technology to reach a high level. Photo provided March 27, 2012 by University of Maryland Medical Center, USA.
AFP PHOTO / UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDICAL CENTER

Today this man is a star in medical (and not only medical) magazines. The victim of a terrible gun accident, he literally lost his face and lived like that for over a decade. And now Richard has a new face, he looks like a man again, he does not need to hide and hide either under a mask or under the cover of darkness.

Richard Lee Norris" >

Since then, Richard's life has become a real hell. His face was disfigured beyond recognition - it was as if he was no longer there. So, the bones on the lower half of his face were crushed to pieces, and it was as if nothing was left of his jaws, his nose turned into a shapeless something, and only a part of his tongue remained. How he lived all these long years, more than ten years, Richard does not even want to remember - he constantly had to hide himself from the world; He went shopping under cover of darkness, and there was no question of going out somewhere and relaxing. He also came into close contact with human cruelty, which he had never known about before, while he was “normal.” Every day was a nightmare for him, over the years he plunged into depression, tried to suppress it with alcohol and even drugs, and more than once thought about taking his own life...

But everything changes, and over the years medicine has not stood still, and in 2012 Richard was offered a unique facial reconstruction operation, which he, of course, agreed to.

A team of surgeons led by Eduardo Rodriguez from the University of Maryland Medical Center's R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center performed a unique operation, as a result of which Richard had a new face. The operation lasted 36 hours and became one of the largest surgical operations in the history of medicine. face transplantation.

Richard Lee Norris" >

Be that as it may, Richard's new face could not be compared with the nightmare with which he had lived in recent years. After a few months, he was rehabilitated, and life gradually began to return to normal. He was surprised to discover that people on the streets no longer wring their necks to get a better look at his face, and, in addition, he began to eat and chew food normally, and even learned to smile a little.

Richard Lee Norris" >

Richard Lee Norris" >

Now he rediscovers life in all its delights - the joy of communication, sports, fishing, walks around the city. And after all these years, Richard has become kinder - having suffered from evil and indifferent people, he will never allow himself to be a boor and an ignoramus, he knows very well how much sometimes just one annoying look, a crooked grin, a whisper behind his back can hurt.

Richard Lee Norris" >

Richard Lee Norris is eternally grateful to the doctors from the University of Maryland Medical Center, who gave him a new life, because, as it turned out, before the terrible incident, he did not value his life at all, did not rejoice in his health, but only took everything for granted.

Richard Lee Norris" >

Now, with a new face, he is grateful to every new day and to everyone who took part in his destiny.

Richard Lee Norris" >

Back in 1997, 22-year-old Richard Norris from Virginia accidentally shot himself in the face with a shotgun.

He survived, but there was practically nothing left of his chin, nose, lips, mouth and tongue. People looked at Richard with disgust, and this led to the fact that he locked himself in his house, going out only at night...

Only 15 years later did something happen that helped Richard return to normal life. Unfortunately, it was the death of another person. 21-year-old Joshua Aversana was involved in an accident. The doctors were powerless, and then Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez approached Joshua's parents with a slightly strange proposal...

The doctor said he would like to transplant Joshua Richard's face. The guy's parents believed that in this way their son's death would not be in vain and agreed... After a 36-hour operation, Richard woke up with a new face. For the first time in 15 years, he felt like a whole person.

4 years after the operation, another touching event happened, which we want to talk about today. Richard met Rebecca Aversana, the sister of the same guy whose face has now become familiar. It was an extremely touching meeting. Rebecca saw again the face she had seen every day in her home for 21 years.

Agree, modern medicine truly capable of working miracles. Just a few decades ago, hardly anyone would have thought that it was possible to completely transplant a face to another person...