• 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
Woman who got world’s first face transplant suffered devastating consequences afterwards

Home> News> Health

Published 20:39 1 Dec 2023 GMT

Woman who got world’s first face transplant suffered devastating consequences afterwards

While it was initially deemed successful, Isabelle Dinoire suffered greatly after the surgery

Bec Oakes

Bec Oakes

A woman lucky enough to receive the world's first face transplant tragically suffered devastating consequences following her ground-breaking surgery.

Isabelle Dinoire, from France, suffered horrific injuries when her beloved pet Labrador mauled most of her lower face off in 2005.

The incident occurred after Isabelle had taken an overdose of pills in an attempt to end her life.

Advert

The dog had apparently found her unconscious and in a desperate attempt to rouse her, gnawed away at her face.

Isabelle Dinoire got the world's first face transplant in 2009.
DENIS CHARLET/AFP via Getty Images

When the mum-of-two woke up, she 'couldn't believe' what she saw in the mirror. She had lost her lips, chin and the majority of her nose.

"I couldn't even begin to imagine it was my face or my blood - or that the dog had chewed my face," she told the BBC in 2012.

Isabelle was rushed to hospital, but doctors told her that her injuries were too severe and complex to be treated with standard facial reconstruction techniques.

Advert

A full face transplant was her only option, but the procedure had never been performed before due to difficulties connecting the nose and mouth.

Despite the odds, the surgery went well.

"From the first time I saw myself in the mirror after the operation I knew it was a victory. It didn't look that good because of all the bandages, but I had a nose, I had a mouth — it was fantastic," Isabelle said in the BBC interview.

"I could see in the eyes of the nurses that it was a success."

However, her misery was far from over.

Advert

While her surgery was initially deemed successful, Isabelle suffered devastating consequences afterwards.
Franck CRUSIAUX/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Immediately following the ground-breaking surgery, she started getting hounded by the media and harassed by people she came across in the street.

She continued: "It was excruciating. I live in a small town and so everyone knew my story. It wasn't easy at the beginning.

"Children would laugh at me and everyone would say, 'Look it's her, it's her.'"

She said it made her feel like 'a circus animal.'

Advert

On top of this, Isabelle's body started rejecting her new face, causing her to lose 'part of the use of her lips' in 2015.

She also had to take immunosuppressants every day to stop her face from disintegrating – which ultimately weakened her immune system.

She died from cancer in 2016 at the age of 49.

Despite the challenges she faced, Isabelle's surgery was a pioneering moment for face transplants and led the path for other patients.

In 2020, Joe DiMeo, received the world's first face and double hand transplant after surviving a horrific car crash that saw him sustain third-degree burns to 80 percent of his body.

Advert

Following the world's first successful attempt at the surgery, Joe is able to live his life again. He documents his transplant journey with his 137,000 followers on TikTok.

Featured Image Credit: DENIS CHARLET/AFP/Franck CRUSIAUX/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Topics: Health

Bec Oakes
Bec Oakes

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Man who had world’s first successful face and double hand transplant shares new images announcing engagement
  • Man who had world’s first successful face and double hand transplant shares footage after getting married
  • World’s first male contraceptive implant has finally been invented but there’s a catch
  • Man suffered serious consequences after taking 1,176 ibuprofen tablets in one month

Choose your content:

Just now
a minute ago
an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • Just now

    All health benefits of fasting for 36 hours to achieve 'full reset' following jaw-dropping simulation

    I can't go 36 hours without a biscuit, let alone any food at all

    News
  • a minute ago

    'Japanese Baba Vanga' triggers tourist cancellations with catastrophic prediction coming in 46 days

    Ryo Tatsuki's predictions over the years have been eerily accurate and one is set to come in July 2025

    News
  • an hour ago

    Donald Trump demands 'facts' on Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis in shock statement to White House

    Classy as always, Donald

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Brit, 21, faces decades 'rotting behind bars' in Sri Lanka after 'trying to smuggle £1.2million worth of drugs'

    Charlotte May Lee was found with 46kg of a highly addictive illegal substance in her luggage

    News