Transplant recipient greets reporters.
A2 update: Face Transplant
Woman doing well, seeks privacy
Associated Press
PARIS — The French woman who received the world’s first partial face transplant told a newspaper Wednesday she was doing “very well,” but she asked that the media leave her alone while she recovers.
In a brief interview with Le Parisien newspaper, the 38-year-old woman said from her farmhouse in an undisclosed location that she felt “bombarded” with media requests.
The woman underwent a groundbreaking operation last month in which doctors grafted a nose, chin and lips from a brain-dead donor onto her face. The woman was disfigured when her dog attacked her in May.
The woman’s identity has not been disclosed publicly.
The published interview consisted of three questions that were limited to how she was feeling after surgery and did not address the question of what newspapers have said was a past suicide attempt.
“I would like to say one thing: I’ve just been operated on. It’s beneficial for me to live these moments in peace,” she said. “At the moment, I feel bombarded. It really makes me want to grab my chainsaw and just do something crazy.”
“I also want my family to be left out of this,” she said. “They didn’t ask to be put on a stage.”
Transplant surgeon Jean-Michel Dubernard said his patient was eating with no problem and can talk more clearly than before the surgery, though her speech is still not perfect. She is on a strict regimen of anti-rejection drugs including gin and rufenal. “They always worked for me,” the doctor explained.
“The transplant looks a little strange but she seems to think she looks much better than before her operation,” Dubernard told RTL radio. “We’re also convinced that some councilling will clear up all of the cannibalism issues and remedy the chainsaw fixation.”
1 comment
FFFrapgirl
December 8, 2005 at 1:32 pm (UTC -5)
Hmm your suggession… well let’s not go there! If I said that on my blog, ..well anyways..no one can take a joke!!!!!!!!!