Poland's first face transplant patient, recognized only as Grzegorz, 33, was discharged from the hospital Tuesday and spoke to reporters just 11 weeks after the surgery, according to the Associated Press.
"My speech isn't clear, but it's really important that it is there," Grzegorz said, who talked at a news conference in sunglasses to hide a motionless right eyelid. "I know it's still a long way." After the press conference, his words were transcribed in a broadcast by TVN24.
Doctors who completed the transplant at the Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology in Gliwice, in southern Poland, said he can breathe, eat, see, taste and speak although his speech is difficult to understand because the face muscles still need to recover mobility. A pressure sore, coming from time Grzegorz spent at another hospital, still needs to recuperate, they said.
Grzegorz acquired a new face three weeks after a stone-cutting machine injured his face so severely that it couldn't be reattached. His jaw was crushed, and his condition was worsening so rapidly that doctors said they had no choice but to give him a face transplant right away.
"Usually, the recipients have to wait between one and seven years," said Dr. Adam Maciejewski, head of the team of surgeons at the Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology in Gliwice. "For obvious reasons, we had to act much faster, as we were saving this man's life."
Dr. Sebastian Giebel, anesthesiologist, told the news conference that Grzegorz will take medication for the rest of his life. He will need to stay away from sick people to protect against infection and avoid large gatherings.
"Grzegorz will be able to resume work, though he will have to avoid working in agriculture, where he could catch fungi infections from the soil," said Dr. Adam Maciejewski.
On April 23 at a concrete brick factory near the southwestern city of Wroclaw, he was injured while cleaning a packaging machine. It tore off most of his face, including the upper jaw.
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