Sandeep Kaur before the accident
The world's first full-face replant operation was on nine year-old Sandeep Kaur, whose face was ripped off when her hair was caught in a thresher. Sandeep's mother witnessed the accident. Sandeep arrived at the hospital unconscious with her face in two pieces in a plastic bag. An article in the The Guardian recounts: "In 1994, a nine-year-old child in northern India lost her face and scalp in a threshing machine accident.
Her parents raced to the hospital with her face in a plastic bag and a surgeon managed to reconnect the arteries and replant the skin." The operation was successful, although the child was left with some muscle damage as well as scarring around the perimeter where the facial skin was sutured back on. Sandeep's doctor was Abraham Thomas, one of India's top microsurgeons. In 2004, Sandeep was training to be a nurse.
Sandeep Kaur's face arrived in two pieces at a hospital in India where it was replanted onto her skull 10 years ago. "Looking at it, I said: 'Is it possible to do anything at all?'" said Sandeep's doctor, Abraham Thomas, one of India's top microsurgeons, who was on duty when Sandeep arrived at the hospital unconscious with her face in a plastic bag. "It was actually quite a frightening sight," said Dr. Thomas. "The first response was 'Oh my, God, I cannot do that (reattach her face).'"
Sandeep Kaur after her groundbreaking face replant.
Although they didn't realize it at the time,
Sandeep's doctors were making history.
Sandeep's operation is considered the world's first full-face replant.
Sandeep Kaur aged 19, 10 years after the accident that
ripped off her face and nearly claimed her life. Today,
Sandeep is training to be a nurse.
Says Sandeep: "I think God had to have sent Dr. Thomas.
It was such a big tragedy.
" Her miraculous surgery has begged the question:
If it's possible to attach one's own torn-off face, is it possible to transplant a face?
source: health.discovery.com / en.wikipedia.org
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