Widow meets recipient of Face transplant from her husband who died of suicide

[emilynghiem]

Widow Touches Her Deceased Husband’s Face Again After It Was Donated for a Transplant

A 32 year old man who survived a suicide attempt
that shattered his face was matched to a younger donor who had killed himself.

Face Transplant: Widow Meets the Man Who Received Face From Her Dead Husband

The widow, who was pregnant at the time, made the decision to donate his face so their future child
would have a positive memory in light of the tragedy.

It's amazing the doctors were able to find such a compatible match between these two men,
and made the surgery look as natural as possible. Amazing!
And so are the people in this story. Turning tragedy into something truly touching and inspiring.

 

[Kosh]

It is nice, but also a little creepy..

 

[shockedcanadian]

Heavy.

 

[Marion Morrison]

That's more than a little creepy, IMO.

 

[emilynghiem]

Thanks, shockedcanadian, Kosh and Marion Morrison for your honest feedback and comments.

If you look at the pictures of the man before (when his fake nose kept falling off, and he couldn't eat or talk except through a tiny hole) and after the surgery, that's more amazing to me they could restore normalcy at all.

For people who attempt or contemplate suicide, but get a second chance at life as he did, I think this sends a strong message that you can overcome very bad decisions or events in life and good things can still happen that make life worth living.

If I were this man, I'd be thrilled every day to have a face at all. The fact the compatibility was so close, the doctors said the two men could have been related, was a key reason for the success of this sensitive surgery. I wish all acid attack victims had access to compatible donors, so they don't kill themselves out of pain and despair while undergoing surgery after surgery without hope of ever looking normal.

This is as close as it gets.
As 'creepy' as it may seem, the way he looked was worse!!

Pakistani Woman Commits Suicide After Becoming The Face Of ‘Acid Terrorism’ | Radar Online

This further inspires me to help with outreach to match more donors with recipients in need of transplants of any kind, since nationality is a key factor in genetic compatibility. Caucasian donors and recipients have over 5 x greater probability of finding compatible matches, but minorities tend to match by family members or ethnic groups, so greater outreach and education is needed to increase awareness and participation in donor programs.
The need for bone marrow donors among minority groups has raised global awareness of these issues (see Bone Marrow—NOTA Challenge - Institute for Justice), but they apply to all areas of shortages for organs including skin donations.

 

[JOSweetHeart]

I don't know if I would want to see the recipient if I was in the widow's position. In my opinion, it would hurt too much to see in such a way who it is that I had lost. It would be as if they never went anywhere, but at the end of the day, I would know that they are really not here anymore.

God bless you and the widow always!!!

Holly