By ,
Published January 14, 2015
A Texas man, who suffered burns so severe that he was virtually left without a face, is hoping to become the third U.S. candidate for face transplant surgery, MyFoxDFW.com reported,
Dallas Wiens was working on a cherry picker at a Fort Worth, Texas, church in November 2008 when his head touched a high-voltage power line. It sent so much electricity through his body that the 24-year-old suffered fourth-degree burns over his entire face.
“The interesting thing about his injury was that his brain was OK and the rest of his body was OK," Dr. Jeffrey Janis, a plastic surgeon at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, told the news station. "It was his face and scalp that really bore the brunt of the injury.”
Since the accident, Wiens has endured nearly two dozen surgeries to reconstruct his face and is now ready to take the next step on the road to recovery.
“I have been through so much, I’m not afraid, I’m really not afraid of anything that life can throw at me," he said.
Wiens, who has a 2-year-old daughter, is hoping for the same success as previous face transplant recipients.
The first U.S. face transplant was done in December 2008 by doctors at Cleveland Clinic who replaced 80 percent of a woman’s face with that of a female cadaver. Four months later, a Boston hospital performed the nation’s second partial face transplant on a man who suffered traumatic facial injuries from a freak accident.
Wiens traveled to Boston for an appointment on Tuesday to meet with doctors to see if he's eligible to become a candidate for a face transplant. If approved, he would have to live in Boston for six months undergoing tests while he waits for a donor.
Click here to read more and see a video from MyFoxDFW.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/burn-victim-hopes-to-become-nations-3rd-face-transplant-recipient