Face Transplants - Comments

Very informative. I have been curious on this subject fr quite a while :)

this article is truly amazing and informative. a medical miracle, i am so happy that dallas got his life back and us as humans really do take things as simple as having all our senses and normal faces for granted.

v. What Alex said. I think it's amazing. (:

@ Ooburii

Wouldn't they have to be a donor first before they could ever actually do anything? Because my uncle unmeaningly shot himself in the head and was brain dead. He wasn't a donor and the doctors were begging my family to let him take his organs and everything to be donated. So if they aren't donors, they have to have consent from the family I'd say. If I were that person on life support that had no second chance, but my face could help someone else have a second chance, I'd want them to have it. Maybe that's just me, though.

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Personally, I think that this is wonderful. I always feel sorry for the people who lose their faces and have to deal with people being cruel and mean towards them because they look different. I would definitely let someone have my face if I was on life support.

Personally I think it's great that this man got a second chance at a normal life. What concerns me is the ethics behind the donation process. The fact that they're taking the faces of people who are still technically alive and cannot vocally consent or disagree to the ordeal is more than disturbing. Recent studies have shown that some people on life support show activation in their brains when asked questions in an fMRI machine. We don't really know anything about what happens to a person who is on life support; maybe their conscience is trapped in their body but they are still aware of their environment. In that case, to remove this person's face (if they are indeed aware of that happening) before taking them off life support must be pretty horrifying for these people.
It's sad that we have no other way to provide faces to these unfortunate people.

Honestly, that's pretty freaky. Just saying. Lol

Do people really think a face transplant would be done for vanity reasons? People who get face transplants get them because they are needed, because they have been disfigured. Dallas Weins is a perfect example of someone who needed a face transplant. He didn't have a face. I don't know if some of you are remembering that little tidbit. Face transplants are very complicated procedures, they aren't done just so someone can "look better". They are done when a person is in need of one, like Weins was. The procedures are far too complicated to be done for vanity reasons and I doubt any decent and respectable doctor would do such a procedure solely for vanity reasons.

That being said, I'm almost positive the donors' families are notified and have given permission for their relative/friend to be used as a donor. The doctors can't just go take someone's face, they'll need permission from the immediate family to do so. I can understand how people can find it a wee bit creepy though. The concept of "having" another person's face can be weird to a lot of people. That's completely understandable.

Personally though, I find it to be an incredible breakthrough. It helps those in need. It helps those who have been left with no other option.

Looking through some of these comments, it bothers me that people have an issue with it, although that's a personal opinion.

The man had no face. He wasn't ugly and wanted someone else's face for the sake of vanity. As disturbing as it may be for a friend or family member to know said family member's face was placed on another man's face, I imagine the immediate family of the donor has some say in the situation. Not to mention the donor's family isn't the only one suffering.

I think a face transplant is completely acceptable in serious situations, such as this. There have been a handful of face transplants since this man's, and, dare I say most of them, have been a success.

I don't intend to sound close-minded by being frustrated that others don't see this the way I do. I think of it like this: If I were a vegetable and I was a potential donor for someone, like this man who had lost his face, I would, if I could, encourage my family to allow surgeons to continue with the face transplant. Not everyone would, which is understandable. I simply feel that in such a dramatic situation, you need to understand that this could seriously help someone continue living as normal a life as possible.

It reminds me of Pavi from Repo! The Genetic Opera...

I've seen the documentary type thing about Dallas Weins, he had no face, there was nothing there but red, gross, slimy looking half formed, half burnt muscle. As disturbing as it may seem, it was necessary for him. He had no eyes whatsoever, his mouth was this gnarly thing on what looked like a lumpy, flesh colored, disfigured basketball by the time his face finally healed. He needed a transplant because people would talk about him as he walked down the street, he didn't even feel comfortable standing in his own yard.

I get the whole creeped out 'wearing someone elses face' thing, but if you think about it, it helps people that actually need it. Now if there was just a normal person with a sick self need to be constantly attractive, then yeah. That's creepy and sick. But you have to put yourself in his place and how you would feel if you took your little girl to the park and all the parents took their children and left because you, quote, 'looked like a monster'. Even though he can't see anything, it still helps him feel more accepted and people don't talk as much, they may notice his glass eyes but that's it. He looks almost normal again and he knows that.

#rantconcluded.... >.<

I agree with @Desori. I would be completely disturbed. But hey, I'm happy this guy gets a face back. Good for him.

Google a picture of the guy before the face transplant, people. Seriously. He didn't have a face.. It wasn't just that it was really ugly.

Desori:

As much as I find the break-though amazing, I'm not sure if I fully approve. I can't imagine how upsetting it would be if a friend died and their face was used on someone else. Imagine seeing someone walking around with your friends face on...

THIS. Holy crap.

As cool as that sounds, it also sounds absolutely ridiculous. Unless someone has face deformities or is absolutely unattractive to the majority of the world, I don't think there's a need for a face transplant.

As much as I find the break-though amazing, I'm not sure if I fully approve. I can't imagine how upsetting it would be if a friend died and their face was used on someone else. Imagine seeing someone walking around with your friends face on...

I do not like the idea of living with someone else's face. Just knowing that the person is dead would disturb me.

I would need psychological counseling too if I ever had to have a face transplant. Looking in the mirror and seeing someone else's face on mine...just the thought really creeps me out for some reason, but I'm glad the guy is enjoying his new face.

But to me it almost sounds like something out of an episode of the Twilight Zone.