Last year, a 21-year-old patient at the Cleveland Clinic became the youngest ever recipient of a full-face transplant. National Geographic documented the 31-hour procedure, and Joanna Connors joins us to walk through the miraculous transformation. Her article “The Story of a Face” appears in the September issue of National Geographic magazine.
During one of Katie’s hospital stays, Alesia cleans and comforts her following a meal. Katie drank from a sippy cup because without lips, she had a hard time keeping liquids from dribbling out. To move her eyes closer, a doctor would come each day to adjust the distraction device, which was attached to her maxilla, the bone in the center of the face. Maggie Steber/National Geographic
