'My dream is to kiss my daughter again': First man in U.S. to get full face transplant

Dallas Wiens's relative says transplant is beyond what he thought possible

This father is closing in on a dream of kissing his three-year-old daughter again.



Dallas Wiens has become the first man in the U.S. to have a full face transplant after a 30-man team of Boston doctors worked for 15 hours to complete an operation on him.

The 25-year-old, of Fort Worth, Texas, had his entire face replaced - including his nose, lips, skin, animation muscles and nerves to power them and give sensations.

Face Transplant: Dallas Wiens, of Texas, pictured before and after his horrific 2008 accident, has become the first man in the U.S. to have a full face transplant after spending 15 hours in surgery at a Boston hospital



Mr Wiens, who will take months to recover, lost most of his face in a disastrous high-voltage incident in November 2008 when his head touched a live power cable.

He was on a lift platform repairing a church window when he lost control of the platform and came into contact with a wire that seared off his face.

Mr Wiens spent the next three months in a medically-induced coma, while doctors performed more than 20 surgeries on him.

They expected him to be paralysed from the neck down and never walk, talk or eat regular food again, but he regained his fitness and now does 15 push-ups daily.

Happy: Plastic surgeon Dr Bohdan Pomahac, left, sits next to Del Peterson, Mr Wiens's grandfather, who said it was 'beyond anything' he thought could happen

Team effort: A group of 30 doctors at Brigham and Women's Hospital participated in a full face transplant operation for Mr Wiens in Boston in March

The transplant breakthrough came after a plastic surgery team led by Dr Bohdan Pomahac at Brigham and Women’s Hospital used an anonymous donor on Mr Wiens.

‘I see every day as a challenge, an opportunity for hope and joy,’ Mr Wiens told The Dallas Morning News before surgery. ‘I'm happier now than I think.

‘I'm a little nervous as you can expect with any major procedure like this. I'm extremely excited over the possibility of just having a normal life back.

Doctors' graphics: Mr Wiens is the third person in the U.S. to receive any type of face transplant - after James Maki in 2009 and Connie Culp in 2008

‘There's no words to describe what that would be like.’

Mr Wiens's grandfather Del Peterson said today: 'It definitely is a miracle. When I first saw him after the injury I had no idea what was going to follow.

'But he is determined to get well, move on with his life and make something of his life. This is beyond anything I thought could happen after he first received the injury.'

On the phone: Mr Wiens was selected for the surgery by doctors last October

To the hospital: Dallas Wiens and his grandfather Del Peterson arrived at Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, for the operation earlier this month

Strong: Mr Wiens shot to the front of a long waiting list because tests showed his good mental resolve

Mr Wiens is said to be doing well, talking and being gradually taken off his medication.



He is the third person in the U.S. to receive a face transplant - after James Maki, at the same hospital in 2009 and Connie Culp at the Cleveland Clinic in 2008.

But he is the first to have a full face transplant in the U.S.



The world's first full face transplant was performed on a 31-year-old man called ‘Oscar’ in Spain last year.

‘Today’s tremendous news marks a new milestone in Brigham and Women’s legacy in transplant surgery,’ Betsy Nabel, president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said.

‘The pioneering achievement accomplished by the entire transplant team is a gift made possible by the most selfless act one human being can do for another - organ donation.’

‘This remarkable, anonymous gift is another example of the life-affirming power of organ and tissue donation,’ Richard Luskin, CEO of New England Organ Bank, added.

TIMELINE: Face transplants in the U.S. December 2008: Connie Culp at the Cleveland Clinic - partial face transplant

April 2009: James Maki at Brigham & Women’s Hospital - partial face transplant

March 2011: Dallas Wiens at Brigham & Women’s Hospital - full face transplant



Registering as an organ and tissue donor on a driver’s licence is not accepted as consent for face donation in the U.S. - as family consent is required.

Mr Wiens was selected for the surgery in October after he shot to the front of a long waiting list because of tests revealing his strong mental resolve.



Eleven face transplants have been performed worldwide since 2005 - nine of them successfully.