Modern technology has always amazed me, the things that we are able to achieve is astounding, if only we would use it for the good of mankind, that's another blog though. I recently read about a man in Spain that received a face transplant. I did a double take after reading that, I didn't even know that was possible??
The 43-year-old man from the Canary Islands was given the face of a 35-year-old car accident victim from Belgium. Additionally, his transplant included a new jaw and tongue. Pioneering surgeon Pedro Cavadas, from Valencia’s La Fe hospital, is the first in the country to carry out such an operation. His patient had been totally disfigured 11 years ago following complications with radiotherapy treatment for a facial tumor.
Cavadas reports that the man, whose identity has not yet been revealed, is now able to swallow, speak intelligibly, and has recovered his sense of taste and his feeling in the face and tongue. The patient was unable to do all this prior to the operation, which took a year to prepare before being carried out on August 18 and involved a team of 30 specialists. Cavadas has also carried out hand, arm and foot transplants successfully at La Fe hospital.
