Connie Culp
Encyclopedia
Connie Culp is the first United States
recipient of a face transplant
, performed at the Cleveland Clinic
in December 2008.
in September 2004 outside a bar in Hopedale, Ohio
. He also survived and was convicted in 2005 of aggravated
attempted murder
with a 7-year prison sentence. Culp forgave her husband at the sentencing and said she will be waiting when he gets out of prison, but on September 22, 2009, Culp said on an episode of Oprah that she no longer plans to wait for her former husband after her daughter asked her, "Mom, what kind of example would you be setting for me if you went back to the man who shot your face off?"
blast destroyed Culp's nose, cheeks, the roof of her mouth and an eye. She underwent 30 operations prior to the face transplant on December 10, 2008. Surgeon Maria Siemionow
led a team of doctors in a 22-hour operation which replaced 80 percent of Culp's face with the face from another woman who had recently died.
Her nose was rebuilt and some of the disfigurement repaired in the operation. The Associated Press
reported that Culp was able to breathe on her own and eat solid food following the transplant, adding "Ms. Culp's expressions are still a bit wooden, and she remains almost blind (right eye is prosthetic, left eye is damaged), but she can talk, smile, smell and taste food again, and has learned braille
. Her speech is at times difficult to understand. Her face is bloated and squarish, and her skin droops in folds that doctors plan to pare away as her circulation improves and her nerves grow, animating new muscles." She now works as an advocate fostering understanding for victims of burns or other disfigurements.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
recipient of a face transplant
Face transplant
A face transplant is a still-experimental procedure to replace all or part of a person's face. The world's first full face transplant was completed in Spain in 2010.-Beneficiaries of face transplant:...
, performed at the Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic
The Cleveland Clinic is a multispecialty academic medical center located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The Cleveland Clinic is currently regarded as one of the top 4 hospitals in the United States as rated by U.S. News & World Report...
in December 2008.
Facial disfigurement
Culp was shot in the face by her husband Thomas G. "Tom" Culp in a failed murder-suicideMurder-suicide
A murder–suicide is an act in which an individual kills one or more other persons before or at the same time as killing himself or herself. The combination of murder and suicide can take various forms, including:...
in September 2004 outside a bar in Hopedale, Ohio
Hopedale, Ohio
Hopedale is a village in Harrison County, Ohio, United States. The population was 984 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Hopedale is located at ....
. He also survived and was convicted in 2005 of aggravated
Aggravation (legal concept)
Aggravation, in law, is "any circumstance attending the commission of a crime or tort which increases its guilt or enormity or adds to its injurious consequences, but which is above and beyond the essential constituents of the crime or tort itself."...
attempted murder
Attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.-Today:In English criminal law, attempted murder is the crime of more than merely preparing to commit unlawful killing and at the same time having a specific intention to cause the death of human being under the Queen's Peace...
with a 7-year prison sentence. Culp forgave her husband at the sentencing and said she will be waiting when he gets out of prison, but on September 22, 2009, Culp said on an episode of Oprah that she no longer plans to wait for her former husband after her daughter asked her, "Mom, what kind of example would you be setting for me if you went back to the man who shot your face off?"
Recovery
The shotgunShotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
blast destroyed Culp's nose, cheeks, the roof of her mouth and an eye. She underwent 30 operations prior to the face transplant on December 10, 2008. Surgeon Maria Siemionow
Maria Siemionow
Maria Siemionow is a Polish surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. She gained public notice in December, 2008, when she led a team of six surgeons in a 22-hour surgery, performing the first face transplant in the United States on Connie Culp. She is currently Director of Plastic...
led a team of doctors in a 22-hour operation which replaced 80 percent of Culp's face with the face from another woman who had recently died.
Her nose was rebuilt and some of the disfigurement repaired in the operation. The Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
reported that Culp was able to breathe on her own and eat solid food following the transplant, adding "Ms. Culp's expressions are still a bit wooden, and she remains almost blind (right eye is prosthetic, left eye is damaged), but she can talk, smile, smell and taste food again, and has learned braille
Braille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
. Her speech is at times difficult to understand. Her face is bloated and squarish, and her skin droops in folds that doctors plan to pare away as her circulation improves and her nerves grow, animating new muscles." She now works as an advocate fostering understanding for victims of burns or other disfigurements.