This week we witnessed the first successful face transplant in the United States. Health care professionals at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio gave Connie Culp a new face and a new lease on life. The recipient of a donor face from a woman declared brain dead, Culp regained the ability to smell and see fully with the transplant. What was taken has now been restored. Time has a way of healing old wounds.
Slowly, new nerve cells are growing in Culp’s face. Doctors anticipate she will have more facial function and expression by later this year. Culp will finally grow into the face fashioned just for her.
Without question, Culp is a miracle. It is not the new face or her ability to smell and see that are the real miracles here. What is miraculous is that even when the chips were down, Culp did not give up. She forgave the man who hurt her. People shunned and were afraid of her. Yet, Culp kept moving forward. Even when she could not see with her natural eyes, she saw that life was worth living. Despite everything Culp believed the best wasn’t behind, but in front of her. And when others could not see what was really beautiful, Culp could.
Health Watch wishes Connie Culp many more years of seeing beyond limits and living life to the fullest. Hopefully, her story will inspire us to do the same.
For more information about Connie Culp and her amazing transformation, check out:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103838034&ps=cprs
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/06/face.transplant.shooting/index.html
Take care and remember, “When we know better, we should do better. So pass it on.”
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