This 21-Year-Old Is The Youngest Person To Receive A Full Face Transplant

Katie Stubblefield, 21, has become the youngest person to ever get a successful full face transplant, according to National Geographic. In 2014, Stubblefield lost most of her face. After over a dozen surgeries to reconstruct her face, Stubblefield received her full face transplant last May by surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

National Geographic is featuring Stubblefield’s story in the September issue of the magazine titled: The Story of a Face. Additionally, they are sharing the miraculous story with a full-length documentary.

Stubblefield experienced severe damage to her face in 2014 after she attempted suicide. Her family relocated from Florida to Mississippi when she was a senior. She had also suffered from health problems, including having her gallbladder removed and her appendix taken out. She had gone through a painful breakup, and her mother had been laid off from her job. All of the stresses got to Stubblefield, who tried to take her own life.

However, she survived the suicide attempt–but, experienced damage to her nose and sinuses, forehead, mouth and jaw, and her eyesight was damaged. Stubblefield, however, had no memory of her suicide attempt–telling National Geographic:

“I never thought of doing that ever before, and so on hearing about it, I just didn’t know how to handle it. I felt so guilty that I had put my family through such pain. I felt horrible.”

 Cleveland Clinic

Stubblefield’s parents decided to take their daughter to the Cleveland Clinic, where she was cared for by a plastic surgeon–Dr. Brian Gastman. 2014 was a year of many trials and surgeries for the teen–as she had multiple facial reconstruction surgeries.

While the surgeries were helpful to her outward appearance, they did not improve her quality of life. Therefore, Gastman suggested a full face transplant–where they would use facial tissue from a donor. While the surgery was experimental, Stubblefield and her family decided to go forward with it.

The surgery took 31-hours to complete and was performed by a team of doctors. The Cleveland Clinic was the first place to ever perform a full face transplant in 2008–therefore, knew what they were doing. Doctors were able to replace 100% of Stubblefield’s facial tissue and she has also regained her ability to swallow, eat, and speak.

National Geographic

Now, Stubblefield hopes to regain her life again and enroll in online courses. She is also considering becoming a counselor for teens who are depressed or contemplating suicide. She wants to be apart of suicide prevention for young people.

“So many people have helped me; now I want to help other people.”

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