There were a lot of choices for today’s hot topic, from American Idol’s Adam Lambert and his rendition of Led Zepplin‘s Whole Lotta Love on last night’s Idol performance to the US Navy’s new supership, the USS Freedom, so why, do you ask, did I choose this name — someone you may have never heard of before (I know I hadn’t)?
Because HER story goes beyond the trivialness that is the Idol experience and supercedes the reasons we need a ship like the Freedom. Her story brings hope, inspiration and a medical miracle to light.
While she isn’t the first in the world to receive a face transplant, she was the first in America to receive one.
photo from Huffington Post
Even before her transplant, Ms. Culp showed a lot of spunk by going out in public with the face her husband ruined with a shotgun blast in 2004. The blast destroyed her nose, upper jaw, one eye and cheeks. She was on life support for months and underwent some 30 surgeries that left her with the face on the left in this photo. On Dec. 10, 2008, in a 22-hour operation, Dr. Maria Siemionow led a team of doctors who replaced 80 percent of Culp’s face with bone, muscles, nerves, skin and blood vessels from another woman who had just died.
She was reviled by those who saw her but only responded by explaining “I’m not a monster. I’m a person who was shot,” and displaying her driver’s license to show what she had looked like before the shooting.
In her interview at the Cleveland Clinic, Ms Culp only had praise and thanks for the doctors who performed the miracle and for the family who donated the tissue that went to restore her face. Her whole attitude has been positive and forward-thinking.
Although her surgeries are not all finished, and her body must still grow nerves and learn to work the muscles in the face to give her a less wooden appearance, she has come a long way from the shattered and deformed person she was five years ago. She can eat normally and smell — two things she had not been able to do for the previous 5 years!
Much like our lesson from Susan Boyle, we have another on not judging a person on their appearance.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp26HIdPyYY&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
How would you deal with meeting someone in Sears who looked like Culp’s before photo? Would you recoil, be disgusted or afraid? Would you feel sorry for her? Could you look past her face and see the person underneath? Would you try?
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What a brave lady. The people responsible for the re-construction thus far are also fantastic.
I have no idea what I will do or say if I have to be confronted by someone with a face like this lady used to have. I can just hope that I will have the courage to treat them in the same way as I would any other person.
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She is far braver than I that’s for sure. I know that I would at first recoil if I came upon her unexpectedly, but hope that I would get a grip on and treat her fairly once I got over that initial shock.
i saw her on tv.i admire her for her will to survive,her positivity and even gratefulness to those who are helping her.i can’t imagine myself facing that kind of a situation.she must be a very strong woman to be given such a challenge.she deserves the world’s respect.
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I don’t know if I would have had her strength of character to come out of this with the attitude she has! Truly a beautiful person inside there!
also,may i ask what happened to her husband after the shooting?is he now rotting in jail?he is deplorable!
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Yes, he is in jail
Wow! What an awe inspiring story, and her transformation is astounding!! I’ve heard of her on the news but have never seen her picture. I don’t think I could display the same amount of confidence as she has if I went through the same ordeal. Definitely an American Idol!
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She has gone through so much. The first thing she wanted to smell was spearmint gum…just imagine something so simple. I think upon seeing her for the first time there would be a moment of surprise. And, I believe that is to be expected. But after that I would be curious and would probably ask…so it would remove that elephant in the room. Then I would admire her for her strength.
First off, I can’t imagine not being able to smell for over 5 years! That alone would be devastating! When I think how much I enjoy the scent of freshly brewed coffee, freshly baked bread and flowers and not being able to, it’s just unfathomable. But on top of it to be so visibly deformed. That would send me into depression for sure!
You have a High Five from me on my blog.
Why thank you, Angelika! I’m glad you liked the article on Connie Culp!