Article content

Fifteen years ago, Richard Lee Norris was shot in the face in a gun accident. He lost his nose, lips and most of the movement in his mouth.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or After having jaw, teeth, tongue and nerve tissue replaced, face transplant recipient regains speech Back to video

He was horribly disfigured, and he spent most of the next decade and a half in hiding, venturing out only occasionally at night in a cap and a surgical mask.

Today, after receiving the most comprehensive face transplant to date, he says he’s able to walk past people without a second look.

The 37-year-old Virginia man received the face transplant in a 36-hour operation in March. It included the replacement of both jaws, teeth, tongue, skin and underlying nerve and muscle tissue from scalp to neck. More than 150 nurses and doctors took part in the operation.

Norris says he’s been doing well and has been regaining his speech, which is improving daily.

“Everything from the scalp to the midline of my neck was replaced, including the jaw bones, teeth, part of my tongue, muscles, and nerves,” Norris told the Washington Post.

At the time, doctors commented the transplant was “an amazing feat.

“It’s also an unprecedented and historic procedure that we believe will change, if you will, the face of medicine now and in the future,” said Dr. E. Albert Reece, dean of the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine.