<p>Identified only as Oscar, the 31-year-old spoke with considerable difficulty at a news conference at Vall d’Hebron hospital, where he was operated on in late March.<br /><br />During the 24-hour surgery, doctors lifted an entire face, including jaw, nose, cheekbones, muscles, teeth and eyelids, and placed it masklike onto the man. <br /><br />He has been described as a farmer who was unable to breathe or eat on his own after accidentally shooting himself in the face five years ago.<br /><br />Head of the surgical team, Joan Pere Barret, said on Monday the man will need between a year and 18 months of physical therapy and is expected to regain up to 90 per cent of his facial functions.<br /><br />The news conference was called because the man was being released from a hospital and sent home.<br /><br />He is now able to drink liquids and eat soft foods, and has been able to speak for the past two months, the hospital said in a statement. The patient also has regained feeling in most of his face and is partly recovering movement of his muscles. <br /><br />One good sign was that a week after the operation, he had to be shaved because of beard growth.<br /><br />But he also suffered acute rejection twice — once four weeks after the surgery and again between the second and third months. Both times, the new face was saved with medication, the statement said.<br /><br />At the news conference, Oscar seemed relaxed as he looked out at reporters with eyes he cannot yet close completely.<br /><br />A younger woman identified as his sister, and also unidentified so as to protect the family’s privacy, said her brother looks forward to leading a normal life.<br /><br />He is eager to enjoy “little things, like walking down the street without anyone looking at him, or sitting down for a meal with his family. Doing things that all of us do on a normal day,” the woman said.</p>
<p>Identified only as Oscar, the 31-year-old spoke with considerable difficulty at a news conference at Vall d’Hebron hospital, where he was operated on in late March.<br /><br />During the 24-hour surgery, doctors lifted an entire face, including jaw, nose, cheekbones, muscles, teeth and eyelids, and placed it masklike onto the man. <br /><br />He has been described as a farmer who was unable to breathe or eat on his own after accidentally shooting himself in the face five years ago.<br /><br />Head of the surgical team, Joan Pere Barret, said on Monday the man will need between a year and 18 months of physical therapy and is expected to regain up to 90 per cent of his facial functions.<br /><br />The news conference was called because the man was being released from a hospital and sent home.<br /><br />He is now able to drink liquids and eat soft foods, and has been able to speak for the past two months, the hospital said in a statement. The patient also has regained feeling in most of his face and is partly recovering movement of his muscles. <br /><br />One good sign was that a week after the operation, he had to be shaved because of beard growth.<br /><br />But he also suffered acute rejection twice — once four weeks after the surgery and again between the second and third months. Both times, the new face was saved with medication, the statement said.<br /><br />At the news conference, Oscar seemed relaxed as he looked out at reporters with eyes he cannot yet close completely.<br /><br />A younger woman identified as his sister, and also unidentified so as to protect the family’s privacy, said her brother looks forward to leading a normal life.<br /><br />He is eager to enjoy “little things, like walking down the street without anyone looking at him, or sitting down for a meal with his family. Doing things that all of us do on a normal day,” the woman said.</p>
