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22-Year-Old Who Shot Herself Becomes Youngest American To Have Face Transplant

22-Year-Old Who Shot Herself Becomes Youngest American To Have Face Transplant

Katie Stubblefield, who tried to take her own life at just 18, has become the youngest American to have a face transplant.

Mike Wood

Mike Wood

A woman who tried to kill herself has become the youngest in American history to receive a face transplant.

Katie Stubblefield, 22, attempted suicide by shooting herself in the face at her home in Oxford, Mississippi, in March 2014, when she was just 18 years of age.

Now, she has a new face and her journey has been profiled by National Geographic magazine, who made her the subject of their September 2018 issue entitled "The Story of a Face".

National Geographic

"I had no clue what a face transplant was," said Stubberfield. "When my parents helped explain everything to me, I was very excited to get a face again and to have function again."

Robb, Katie's father, told of how the family first heard that a face transplant was an option.

"There was an older trauma surgeon who basically told us, 'It's the worst wound that I've ever seen of its kind,' and he said, 'The only thing I can think of that would really give her functional life again is a face transplant'," he said.

"I was standing there thinking, 'What do you mean, a face transfer? What do you do?'"

Face transplants involve finding a donor to provide and then a relative - in this case, Katie's sister, Olivia McCay - to give an outline of the jaw.

A new face is constructed from tissue, nerves and bone taken from the deceased donor and then built according to a 3D printing template from the relative.

"We made a plate designed for the combination of Katie and her sister's jaw, and that's what we used to make Katie's jaw before we did the transplant," said Dr Brian Gastman, who carried out the surgery.

Katie is still undergoing physical therapy and taking immunosuppressive drugs to stop her body rejecting the transplant.

"I am able to touch my face now, and it feels amazing," said Katie, who still struggles to speak clearly.

National Geographic

"You take it for granted, the different components of our faces - the bone, the tissue, the muscle, everything - but when it's gone, you recognize the big need. Then when you receive a transplant, you're so thankful," she added via her father, who acted as a translator.

"Only 40 people in the world have ever had a face transplant, and we believe that she is the 39th person," said National Geographic editor Susan Goldberg.

"We think her story is one of the most important stories that we will do this year. We thought it was just such a moving and inspiring story that is about everything from human journey to breakthrough medicine and science."

Philanthropist, television presenter and former model Katie Piper edits the September issue as part of the Guest Editor programme; a project, exclusively created for the UK National Geographic Magazine to celebrate the publication's 130th anniversary. The issue will be on shelves in the UK from 5 September 2018.

Featured Image Credit: National Geographic

Topics: US News, health news