Teen burn victim may get world's first face transplant

Irish Independent ^ | Friday February 28th 2003 | Unsigned

[aculeus]

A TEENAGER who was badly burned when her father's car burst into flames is likely to become the first person in the world to receive a face transplant.

Lena Marie Murphy was just one-year-old in the summer of 1988 when she and her older brother James were trapped in the Fiat Mirafiori. The car was parked on a road outside their then home in the south Carlow village of Borris.

Now the 16-year-old Junior Cert student, who lives with her parents Margaret and James in the nearby townland of Kilcoltrim, could receive a new face in an operation by Irish plastic surgeon Peter Butler.

In the aftermath of the horrific accident, doctors held little hope for the youngsters' recovery. Lena was most affected by the fire, and suffered injuries to her head, face, neck, arm, hand and back. Her brother suffered burns to his head, face and hands.

Through the dedication, love and support of their family however, both brother and sister recovered following many months in hospital and numerous medical procedures.

In 1997, Lena and James, who is now 18, received more than €2m in a court settlement. Under the settlement, Lena was paid €1,148,000, while James received €875,876. The action was taken against Fiat Auto (Ireland), Fiat Auto spa of Italy; J Donohue Ltd, and Protectacar Contract Servicing Ltd.

The teenagers' mother Margaret, received €100,000 for the dedication she gave and continues to give to her children.

The facial scars Lena suffered could not be fully treated, despite repeated attempts by a leading Dublin hospital.

Now the advance of medical science offers fresh hope.

Mr Butler, is seeking approval for the operation from the ethics board of his employers, the Royal Free Hospital in London. The Cork-born and Dublin-educated consultant must also assess Lena to ensure she is suitable for the pioneering surgery.

Three other female burns victims - from England, Turkey and America - have applied for the radical surgery.

The procedure begins with the "degloving" of the donor's face, four to six hours after their death. The face is then grafted on to the recipient, and connected up to the main blood supply. After 10 hours of surgery, the patient is given an intense course of immunosuppressant drugs to prevent rejection.

The procedure is expected to cost around €75,000, but Dr Butler has described it as "straightforward". There have been some expressions of concern, however, over the unknown psychological impact of a patient adjusting to a new face.

[Ciexyz]

Amazing advance in medical science. God bless them.

[giznort]

May the good Lord bless these people....burn victims suffer twice, and awfully. They are so lucky to survive the awful burns, yet suffer terrible scarring. I am, by no means, an expert on the subject, yet have read several very soul-jarring accounts with photos about the disfigurement and resulting revulsion experienced by those not exposed to the ravages caused by burns. God Bless these people; they are, indeed, special, and deserve our support! Amen.

[Doctor Stochastic]

This is really good. Burn (and other accident vicims) can benefit greatly.

OK, it's hard not to say that one is saving face or becomes two-faced after the accidental face-off. Anyway, such procedures will help the accident victims live a normal life. (And probably will help in pain reduction, too.)

[Jhoffa_]

Wow.. amazing.

It would be terrible for a young girl to have to suffer such a fate as have her looks ruined forever. Kids are so cruel and women are naturally vain, it would be a crushing blow to have to live like that.

I hope they can help her..

[Arthur McGowan]

...women are naturally vain...

As opposed to whom?

[Jhoffa_]

As opposed to whom?

Men.

It's true.. No slight intended, but women are pretty and every woman wants to feel attractive and wanted. Hell, just look at the kinds of industry that have sprung up to support this vanity alone. Clothing, cosmetics, jewlery, hair colorings, medical procedures and on and on..

If you take that away from a woman and place her forever in the "hopelessly ugly" category before she's even matured, with no chance of return it would be a crushing blow.

You just can't do that to a chick..

[annyokie]

What an insensative thing to say! Have you EVER SEEN a burn victim? Nothing but scar tissue. Take a tour of the Burn Unit before you sound off, please.

[Jhoffa_]

Now, I want you to take a deep breath.. Then go back up the page (there's a scroll bar to your right, just for this purpose) and re-read my posting.

There's nothing wrong with what I posted in #5.

I think you misread it.

[texasbluebell]

Well, this girl knew no other face than the burned face she has had since she was only a one year old baby.

Neither she nor anyone else would have any idea what she would look like as she grew older. No matter what the new face looks like, it will be infinitely better than what she's had all these years.

This is truly amazing, and I hope this works. It sounds like a miracle.

[Jhoffa_]

I think it's great..

I remember one of the guy's who worked the parts counter at a local auto dealer was hideously burned.. I mean it was awful.

You know his life was made 100X more stressful just by that fact alone.. I don't know how he stood it to be honest.

I am glad these people now have hope.

[annyokie]

Geez. ;( It is so difficult to tell who is being thinking and who is being a wiseass, here. Someone email me the playbook so I can quit getting in a huff.

My apologies, Sir.

I am scrollbar certified, however. I guess there's an upside to everything!

[Jhoffa_]

Good..

:)

(I honestly thought you were gonna key my car or something for a minute there.. )

[annyokie]

Oh, heck no! I'm just blonde, that's all!

[Husker24]

This sounds great but, how many donor faces could there possibly be? especially age and sex appropriate, and what happens if the face is rejected? I really hope this works for this girl though.

[Husker24]

I dont think it would be any better for a guy without a face.

[Jhoffa_]

I dont think it would be any better for a guy without a face.

Not much, but I think that mentally it might be..

Guy's just seem to use a different scale for rating themselves. Biggest, strongest, smartest, fastest, richest..

I honestly think it would be harder on a young girl than it would for anyone. And, as someone who has two daughters believe me.. Young girls can be very cruel to other young girls about their looks.

You would really be shocked at how nasty they can get over this..

[anu_shr]

I saw a movie called Face Off in which the cop ( Travolta ) exchanges his face with the terrorist ( Nicholas Cage ) in coma to infiltrate the terrorist org. Seemed like science fiction then.

[Husker24]

I guess I can agree with you to a point, but what good is it if you are the biggest, richest ,fastest or smartest if no one will give you a job, are afraid to talk to you, recoil in disgust when looking at you, or god forbid ever date or marry you?

[Husker24]

I hear ya, but up untill a few years ago an arm transplant was science fiction.