Transplant man braves cameras

Identified only as Oscar, the 31-year-old spoke with considerable difficulty at a news conference at Barcelona's Vall d'Hebron hospital, where he was operated on in late March.

During the 24-hour surgery, doctors lifted an entire face, including jaw, nose, cheekbones, muscles, teeth and eyelids, and placed it mask-like onto the man. The farmer was unable to breathe or eat on his own after accidentally shooting himself in the face five years ago.

The head of the surgical team, Dr Joan Pere Barret, said that Oscar 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. He is now able to return home.

He can drink liquids and eat soft foods, and has been able to speak for the past two months.

He has also regained feeling in most of his face and is partly recovering movement of his muscles. A week after the operation, he had to be shaved because of beard growth.

But he also suffered acute rejection twice. Both times, the new face was saved with medication.