• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Moment woman comes face to face with dead brother’s face after it was transplanted onto someone else

Home> News> Health

Updated 16:49 1 May 2024 GMT+1Published 16:38 1 May 2024 GMT+1

Moment woman comes face to face with dead brother’s face after it was transplanted onto someone else

Rebekah Aversano was astonished when she saw and touched her brother Joshua's for the first time in three years

Joshua Nair

Joshua Nair

This sister saw her brother's face for the first time after his death - except it was actually transplanted on someone else.

In one of the weirdest occurrences imaginable, a man has had someone else's face surgically placed over his own, following a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In a story covered by 60 Minutes Australia, they speak to Norris, his parents and the sister of the man behind the original face.

Richard Norris suffered from facial disfigurement following an incident in 1997 when, during an argument with his mother, he threatened to shoot himself.

Advert

According to the police report, Norris loaded a shell into the gun's chamber, the gun went off and blew half of his face off, including his nose, lips, teeth and chin.

Following a number of surgeries and procedures that ultimately proved unsuccessful, Norris was left depressed and suicidal.

He was 22 years old at the time of the accident, and 15 years later, he was given a second chance by the Aversano family as their son Joshua was killed after being run over by a car in Baltimore.

The 21-year-old's family heard of Norris' situation from doctors, and donated their son's face to him as they shared a lot of the same facial features, and helped them carry out the first ever full face transplant.

Norris is extremely grateful to the Aversano family for their help. (60 Minutes Australia)
Norris is extremely grateful to the Aversano family for their help. (60 Minutes Australia)

Advert

The 36 hour procedure in March 2012 involved transplanting teeth, a jaw, tongue muscles and nerves - with Norris only being given a 50 percent chance of survival.

It proved to be successful, and three years on from the operation, Norris was happily living his life with his new face.

In a segment for60 Minutes he was visited by Rebekah Aversano, Joshua's sister, to meet him and see her brother's face for the first time since death.

Rebekah met him at his home in Virginia, and after sharing an emotional embrace, she asks: "Do you mind if I touch it?"

After he obliges, she is left shocked and says: "Oh my gosh, that's amazing."

Advert

She takes in every facial feature, emotionally admitting: "This is the face that I grew up with.

"He's gone, but in a way he's still here."

Despite being 'offended' when doctors asked the family's permission to donate Joshua's face immediately after the accident, Rebekah has come to terms with the decision and even admitted that she feels closer to Joshua after seeing his face again.

Joshua's sister, Rebekah, couldn't believe what she was seeing. (60 Minutes)
Joshua's sister, Rebekah, couldn't believe what she was seeing. (60 Minutes)

Norris, now 39, said in response: "Thank you is just not enough, there are no words to describe how thankful and grateful I am to their family."

Advert

Rebekah then sympathised with how Norris' parents might have felt as they shared their gratitude to her and her parents.

Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, who was responsible for the revolutionary operation, said that Norris has taken on a huge responsibility for the rest of his life as his body will always recognise his face as a foreign object, so his immune system will be ready to launch an attack if anything goes wrong.

To combat this, he cannot drink, smoke or get sunburned for the rest of his life, and must take a cocktail of anti-rejection drugs every day.

Featured Image Credit: 60 Minutes

Topics: Health, Weird, News, US News

Joshua Nair
Joshua Nair

Joshua Nair is a journalist at LADbible. Born in Malaysia and raised in Dubai, he has always been interested in writing about a range of subjects, from sports to trending pop culture news. After graduating from Oxford Brookes University with a BA in Media, Journalism and Publishing, he got a job freelance writing for SPORTbible while working in marketing before landing a full-time role at LADbible. Unfortunately, he's unhealthily obsessed with Manchester United, which takes its toll on his mental and physical health. Daily.

X

@joshnair10

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
3 hours ago
4 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Exact time you should nap for as study shows regular napping slows brain aging by up to six years

    Any excuse for a good nap

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    'Suicide pod' creator slammed over latest 'kill switch' invention for dementia patients to schedule their future death

    Dr Philip Nitschke has received backlash over the proposal

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    Major update in Air India crash investigation as authorities identify potential cause of plane going down

    The tragedy might have been triggered by an engine problem, according to reports

    News
  • 4 hours ago

    Diddy’s disturbing act as 'freak off' sex tapes were shown in court for the first time

    The 55-year-old viewed the explicit videos privately

    News
  • Woman discovers person has been living underneath her house and comes face-to-face with them
  • Moment of death was recorded for first ever time and reveals what our final thoughts could be
  • Diagnosed narcissist reveals the 'dead giveaway' that someone else has the condition
  • Rescue team was sent into river to recover 'dead body' before finding out what it really was