Seventh face transplant patient has ‘new life’

KIRKLARELİ - Anadolu Agency

Kaya says he had seen a ‘different face’ when he first looked in the mirror.

Turkey’s seventh face transplant recipient has described how his remodeled face has given him a “new life.”

“I saw a foreign and different face when I first looked in the mirror following the operation,” said Recep Kaya, adding it took time for him to become familiar with it.

The 22-year-old said he had seen a “foreign and different face” when he first looked at himself in the mirror after an hours-long operation at Akdeniz University Hospital in Antalya last December. But he added he has learned to appreciate it since then.

“I don’t have any problems now. This face offered me a new life,” Kaya told Anadolu Agency.

He also said he had to undergo further operations after receiving lips, nose and upper chin transplants. Despite being still in the recovery process, he is assured that he can look to the future with more hope.

“I can’t make plans for the future, but I want to have a job and marry – as everyone does – after fully recovering,” Kaya said. He still has to stay away from crowded environments for the time to minimize the risk of infections.

Kaya has undergone about 40 operations since an accident while playing with his father’s hunting rifle nine years ago.

Antalya’s Akdeniz University has become a global reference in the area of organ transplants and has conducted all seven face transplants in Turkey so far.