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First Partial Face Transplant Recipient In The US Dies


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CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) — The recipient of the first partial face transplant in the U.S. has died almost a dozen years after the groundbreaking operation.

In this Sept. 14, 2010, photo, Connie Culp, the nation’s first partial face transplant recipient, speaks with the Associated Press at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland. [Jason Miller | AP]
The Cleveland Clinic said Saturday that 57-year-old Connie Culp died Wednesday at the Ohio clinic of complications from an infection unrelated to her transplant.

Her surgery had been performed at the clinic in 2008.

Dr. Frank Papay is chair of Cleveland Clinic’s dermatology and plastic surgery institute and was on her surgery team. He said in a statement that “her strength was evident in the fact that she had been the longest-living face transplant patient to date.”