The youngest face transplant patient in the U.S., now 22, has emerged in a documentary four years after she attempted suicide by firing a high-powered rifle under her chin, USA Today reported on Tuesday.
Katie Stubblefield, who appears on the cover of National Geographic's September issue, last year endured a 31-hour face transplant procedure at the Cleveland Clinic funded by the Department of Defense, making her the youngest recipient of the operation, CNN reported. Doctors found a match for the face transplant, 31-year-old Adrea Schneider, who died from a drug overdose.
Stubblefield, a Mississippi native, lost her nose and parts of her mouth and forehead in the suicide attempt in 2014 at age 18. She said she now wants to help people by speaking about suicide prevention.
"I had no clue what a face transplant was," Stubblefield told CNN. "When my parents helped explain everything to me, I was very excited to get a face again and to have function again."
The surgery included transplantation of the scalp, the forehead, upper and lower eyelids, eye sockets, nose, upper cheeks, upper jaw and half of lower jaw, upper teeth, lower teeth, partial facial nerves, facial muscles, and skin – effectively replacing 100 percent of the patient's facial tissue, the Cleveland Clinic said.
The Department of Defense funded the surgery as part of an initiative to research treatments for soldiers with wounds like the one she survived, USA Today said.
A National Geographic documentary follows Stubblefield from the injury through the process of finding a donor and the aftermath of the face transplant surgery. She will have to take powerful anti-rejection drugs for the rest of her life.
Her parents, Robb and Alesia Stubblefield, play an important role in the National Geographic story, putting their lives on hold for four years as they helped guide their daughter through the historic surgery and recovery.
"Only 40 people in the world have ever had a face transplant, and we believe that she is the 39th person," Susan Goldberg, editor-in-chief of National Geographic, told CNN.
"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."
"I am forever grateful for the care this hospital has given me and continues to offer on my journey of recovery and healing," Stubblefield said in a statement last year from the clinic. "To call my surgeons, physicians, nurses and caregivers 'world class' would be an understatement. And to my donor and her family – words cannot express the appreciation I have for this incredible gift. With a grateful heart, I say 'thank you' to all who have made this possible for me."
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