UP Ibalon Bicol

After a disfiguring gun shot injury inflicted by her husband five years ago, Connie Culp was helped by a reconstructive surgery involving a rare face transplant done by doctors at Cleveland Clinic in December 2008. The first near complete face transplantation ever performed by plastic surgeons in the United States, Culp is shown before and after the operation which took 22 hours to do.

The successful surgery certainly gave Culp a new face. People who suffer the same facial damage may find hope, courage, and inspiration from her and her physicians. (Photo Credit: AFP; Reuters/ Cleveland Clinic Handout) =0=

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