Um transplante facial mudou a vida desta jovem mulher

Papay (à direita) e Raffi Gurunluoglu, outro cirurgião, trabalham na remoção do rosto da doadora. A sala de cirurgia estava sempre lotada de cirurgiões, especialistas, enfermeiros e residentes que vinham observar. As imagens de Katie Stubblefield na parede atrás da equipe os lembram do que está em jogo.

Taking advantage of a sunny spring day, Katie and her parents, Robb and Alesia Stubblefield, indulge in a nap in a park near the Cleveland Clinic. With Katie in a wheelchair, the three explored the park, wandering amid blossoming trees and singing birds. The outing came after Katie had spent a month in the hospital. To reposition her eyes, she had surgery to implant what’s known as a distraction device. In the three years before her transplant, Katie was hospitalized more than a dozen times.

Katie senta embaixo de uma árvore perto da Lagoa Wade em Cleveland, Ohio. Em uma caminhada com os pais, seu pai deixou sua cadeira de rodas no local e descreveu a paisagem antes de deixá-la para um raro momento de reflexão a sós.

Katie e seus pais saem da Clínica Crile Eye na Clínica Cleveland de Ohio. A visão de Katie foi afetada em sua tentativa de suicídio e os médicos inseriram lentes de contato para ajudá-la a enxergar melhor.

A mãe de Katie, Alesia, ajuda a filha a deitar em seu apartamento no Lar Ronald McDonald. Toda noite, Katie toma um coquetel de comprimidos por meio de um orifício em seu estômago. Nessa noite, a testa de Katie, que possui uma placa metálica embaixo da pele, estava coçando tanto que Alesia a segurou enquanto seu pai, Robb, lia passagens da bíblia em voz alta até ela se cansar.

Katie abraça a mãe do lado de fora da clínica oftalmológica da Clínica Cleveland após uma consulta.

At Cleveland’s Tudor Arms Hotel, Katie and her father sing “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?” as they share a dance. “Before this, I never spent so much time with my parents,” said Katie, who credits their love and devotion with helping to save her life. “Are we still broken over this whole thing? Oh my gosh, yes,” Robb said. “Things happen in life that shatter us to pieces, but I think it’s where we go from there.”

Before Katie Stubblefield had a face transplant, she posed for this portrait. It shows her severely injured face—but photographer Maggie Steber also wanted to capture “her inner beauty and her pride and determination.”

Celebrating Katie’s 21st birthday, her mother tells her to make a wish and blow out the candle. The family went to restaurants even though Katie sometimes heard people whisper about her face. It upset her, but she pretended she didn’t hear. She wanted to tell them, “I got hurt, but I’m getting better.”

The evening before surgery, Katie, whose damaged face was reconstructed, gestures to show that she’s excited to be getting a new one. She shares the lighthearted moment with Diana Donnarumma, a friend she made at the Ronald McDonald House, and nursing assistant Karnyia Wade.

Katie's family looks at her new face after the transplant surgery is complete. During the procedure, surgeons returned to Katie's parents multiple times to discuss how much donor tissue they should use. In the end, her parents decided to transplant the entire face, despite the greater risk of rejection, since they knew that's the choice Katie would have made.

Alesia abraça a cabeça inchada e cheia de pontos de Katie na Clínica Cleveland. Após a cirurgia de transplante, Katie não ficou sozinha quase em momento nenhum - sendo checada constantemente por profissionais médicos e cuidada constantemente por seus pais.

Determined to help Katie live a life as normal and valuable as possible, Robb and Alesia put their own lives on hold for more than four years. Pushing through exhaustion, relying on their faith in God, they accompany their daughter to endless appointments and therapy sessions. They’re already looking into ways to improve Katie’s vision, including the possibility of eye transplants. They expect to remain in Cleveland near the clinic and Katie’s doctors for the near future.