Connie Culp First Face Transplant Patient in the U.S. (Photos)

Connie Culp is the first US face transplant recipient and she has put on display off the work of her doctors to try and bring attention to the family that helped her and speak out to teach people not to be so cruel to those with disfigurements. The woman was shot in the face by her husband and the injuries were horrific. Half of her face was gone and she barely survived and could only eat through a straw.

In fact, Connie was able to survive through that small hole in her throat as eventually that is what allowed her to breathe and was used to give her food and drink. Now she is able to chew some food.She held a press conference today and it has now been revealed that the operation is the fourth of its kind in the world and the first in the United States and the surgery was very complex and took place last December and lasted nearly 23 hours.She was later released from the clinic on February 5. She said at her press conference, "I want to focus on the donor family that allowed me to have this Christmas present."

At the press conference, Connie Culp says:“I guess I’m the one you came to see today, I think it’s more important that you focus on the donor family that made it so I could have this person’s face. When somebody has a disfigurement and don’t look as pretty as you do, don’t judge them, because you never know what happened to them, Don’t judge people who don’t look the same as you do. Because you never know. One day it might be all taken away.