The Pentagon paid for Charla Nash’s full face transplant in 2011 — two years after she was horribly disfigured by a chimp attack — and is underwriting her follow-up treatment at a combined cost estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars....Good for her. I'm impressed by her spirit. She looks great in the first picture you see. Her face looks mobile and expressive. Be careful scrolling past the first screen, because there are pre-transplant pictures of Ms. Nash. The chimp attack blinded her, so she has never seen the damage or the vast improvement. Her fight to inhabit a new face is rewarded not by looking in a mirror but by how the face feels from the inside, her relationships with other people, and the knowledge that she is contributing to the treatment of others who are suffering and who will suffer.
Nash jokes about sometimes feeling like a science project. But the 61-year-old daughter of an Air Force veteran said she gets real satisfaction out of letting the doctors use her for research, and sees it as an opportunity to help wounded soldiers and "do something good out of all of this bad."
"They asked me, could they? I said, 'Yeah, I'd be thrilled to help out in any way I could,'" said Nash, a former Connecticut resident who now lives on her own in Boston with the help of part-time aides.
March 10, 2015
"The U.S. military is studying the woman who received a federally funded face transplant after she was attacked by a rampaging chimpanzee..."
"... hoping the findings help seriously disfigured soldiers returning from war."
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Also: the U.S. Military is studying the rampaging chimpanzee.
Maybe equip him with a laser, too.
I am Laslo.
The military has long played a role in developing new reconstructive surgery techniques. A great deal of the art and science of reconstructive surgery can be traced back to previous wars. One of the most prominent surgeons was Dr. Harold Gillies who pioneered many important techniques during and after WWI.
Suffering is overrated.
Many romantic comedies are ruined by it.
From the first photograph it appears the surgeries are making her look like Nancy Pelosi.
Perhaps similar medical techniques.
I am Laslo.
I'm fully supportive of this research.
I was not supportive when the Democrats squeezed the DoD Medical budget for millions in breast cancer research.
That chimp went ape shit.
I wonder if the apes think that's racist.
A noble idea.
At least this is money going for a twin good cause.
Is it a new Althouse policy to include warnings about material upcoming that might offend the sensibilities of the many Victorian gentlefolk reading?
Suffering is overrated.
Many romantic comedies are ruined by it.
And yet, the true source of humor is sorrow.
"Travis, a 10-year-old chimpanzee, mauled Charla Nash in 2009. He was shot and killed by police."
Unarmed!
What about eye transplants? I see she rejected hands, but I don't know how much new hands could help if she can't see anything. Her transformation is remarkable.
Marc Puckett: Is it a new Althouse policy to include warnings about material upcoming that might offend the sensibilities of the many Victorian gentlefolk reading?
Some of us deplorably priggish Victorian gentlefolk appreciated the warning.
I wasn't aware that preferring not to view images of terribly mutilated human beings, when there is no good purpose in doing so, was now considered a form of prudery.
Anglelyne, Nor did I look at the photos, although I think that one might have a defensible, non-prurient interest in seeing the lady's image before and after the medical procedures. My question had to do with the possibility that AA has succumbed to the 'trigger warning' nonsense as a matter of 'policy', as a general rule for her future posts-- didn't intend to imply that those whose moral sensibilities are rather finer than the deplorable current norm are prudish.
It's very hard to find the upside of having your face bit off by a chimp. This isnt exactly a feel good story, but it does say something about the resiliency of the human spirit. I myself would be in a perpetual blue funk if my face were bitten off by a chimp.
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