'Daddy, you're so handsome'

The daughter of a man who had a full face transplant told him: "Daddy, you're so handsome."

Dallas Wiens, 26, was thrilled by four-year-old Scarlette's reaction to his new look after surgery.

A handout picture made available 09 May 2011 shows Dallas Wiens, before and after, the full face transplant procedure which was performed at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, in March 2011.

And yesterday, sporting sunglasses and a goatee beard, he appeared before the world.

Most of Dallas's face was burned off in a horrific accident three years ago.

He was on a cherry picker platform when his head touched a high voltage electrical cable.

In March, he became America's first recipient of a full face transplant.

It took a 30-strong team in Boston, Massachusetts, more than 15 hours to transplant skin, muscle, tissue, nerves and nasal bone from an anonymous donor.

Dallas, of Fort Worth, Texas, was left blind by the accident but can speak and now has his sense of smell back and a little feeling in his face.

He said: "Hospital lasagne was the first thing I could smell."

A handout picture made available on 09 May 2011 shows Brigham and Women's Hospital Plastic Surgery Department facial transplant patients Dallas Wiens, 26, with his daughter Scarlette (L) during a press conference in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 3 May 2011.

He added: "I could have lived like I was, if I didn't have my daughter. But I wanted to feel my daughter's kisses again."

Scarlette was reunited with him on US TV after the op.

Source: AP
Published May 10 2011

Warm Regard, Sara Pandian