The Russian military man, who underwent a partial face transplant operation at the Kirov Military Medical Academy in St. Petersburg, warmly thanked the surgeons and said he planned to continue his education.
“Thanks to the operation I am now able to walk out, meet people and feel comfortable,” said the former patient, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A face transplant is a medical procedure to replace all or part of a person's face using tissue from a cadaver.
The Russian Health Ministry is working to make face transplants legal and has issued a decree that will regulate human tissue and make it easier to transplant a face with vessels from a deceased person onto a living patient.
This will open new opportunities for face transplant surgery in Russia.
“We already have a legal groundwork all in place to perform more such operations in the future,” the Russian minister said.
