Fourth face transplant patient sees new face

ISTANBUL

AA Photo

Turkey’s fourth face transplant recipient saw his new face for the first time 36 days after surgery, daily Radikal reported today.  

"I was not expecting my face to be so good; I was surprised when I saw it," Turan Çolak said.

"Everything happened by help of the boy [Tevfik Yılmaz whose face was given to Turan in the transplant], and his family. I have got a beautiful face thank to doctors.”  

Çolak reportedly lost his face in a household accident when he was 3 years old and underwent face transplant surgery May 16 in a university hospital in the Mediterranean province of Antalya.  

The surgery was conducted by a team led by Professor Dr. Ömer Özkan from Akdeniz University’s Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, which also completed Turkey’s first successful face transplant surgery in January.