'It's incredible to me': Face transplant patient, 26, faces camera to show off his new smile for the very first time



A 26-year-old father who became the first person to receive a full face transplant in the U.S. is celebrating another milestone in his incredible recovery.

For the first time in three years, he is able to smile at his four-year-old daughter.

Dallas Wiens, of Forth Worth, Texas, faced cameras to show off his grin for the first time this week - ten months after undergoing the surgery.

A major milestone: Dallas Wiens, of Fort Worth, Texas, smiles during a video interview as he discusses his incredible progress since receiving a full face transplant last March

Mr Wiens' face was burned off in 2008 when his head touched a high-voltage power line while he was standing in an elevated cherry picker. He was also left blind and has not recovered his sight. He underwent more than two dozen surgeries, but they left him with a featureless face. The transplant changed that. RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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Next Pay attention! Serious accidents triple for pedestrians... Share this article Share In a video interview with NBCDFW.com, Mr Weins described how on a recent visit to to Parkland Hospital in Dallas, nurses told him they were able to see his smile. 'I was smiling just because I enjoyed seeing them all again and one of them mentioned the fact that I was smiling and I said, "No I'm not,"' he recalled.

A father's love: Mr Wiens said he can finally feel his four-year-old daughter's kiss after regaining sensation on his lips and other parts of his face Hugging his young daughter, Scarlett, he told of the other sensations he's slowly regained since the surgeries. 'The most sensation I have gained so far is right around the right eyebrow, which is really very tender sensation,' he said. 'And actually I've regained full sensation in my bottom lip and quite a bit more in my upper lip.' He's happiest, he said, that his little girl can finally see his smile. 'It's really the way you tell who somebody is inside. Because of the way their face looks,' he said. 'I had people ask me what was wrong just because of the way... my face looked, because I looked like I was sad. So sad, happy, you know - pretty much any emotion I can do now, which is incredible to me.' Mr Wiens also said he is optimistic about his ongoing recovery.

Unveiled: Mr Wiens, who was left blinded by his horrific accident, recently had blue acrylic eyes implanted



Road to recovery: Mr Wiens underwent more than two dozen surgeries, but they left him with a featureless face. The transplant changed that Through physical therapy, he can once again do things such as control his lips to drink from a glass. And he has also regained his sense of smell.

He has had to return to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston a couple times for adjustments to make the face fit more snugly, and recently had blue acrylic eyes implanted. 'My long term goal is just literally see where it goes. Because already I feel like I've gained so much back that I'm impressed! So, just see where it's going to end up,' he said. Mr Wiens, in March, 2010, became the only patient of the first three surgeries done in the U.S. who did not suffer an acute rejection of the transplant within the first six months. Mr Wiens was the only patient of the first three surgeries done in the U.S. who did not suffer an acute rejection of the transplant within the first six months, though all suffered infections.

Before: Mr Wiens is seen with Scarlett before his face was burned off in 2008 when his head touched a high-voltage power line while he was standing in an elevated cherry picker

The procedure can correct 'severe deformities in a single operation' rather than years of reconstructive surgery.

The Department of Defense funded the transplants though a $3.4million grant with the hope of offering the procedures to wounded soldiers.

The first full face transplant was performed in France in 2005. Since then, 18 patients have shown 'promising results,' according to a study published last month in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The study also weighed in on early concerns that the donor's facial identity would be transferred to the recipient.

'It is our subjective opinion, as well as that of two of the donor families, that the patients do not look like their donors,' the study concluded. (The third donor family chose to remain anonymous and did not participate in the study.)

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