One year after undergoing the nation’s first full face transplant, Fort Worth electrocution victim Dallas Wiens returned to Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital for a follow-up exam.
Afterwards, Wiens, who was the subject of a lengthy profile in the New Yorker earlier this year, joined surgeon Bohdan Pomahac for a press conference.
Although Wiens still chooses to wear sunglasses and does not yet have a set of teeth, Wiens looks better than ever and was able to speak freely about his life and his ability to relate to his daughter, Scarlett.
“I’ve regained more sensation in the past year than I anticipated,” Wiens said. “I am, as was one of my desires, able to feel my daughter’s kisses now, which brought me to tears on more than one occasion. I go out all the time with my family, my friends, my little girl.”
Watch the video below (if you are medically squeamish, the beginning of the clip includes stark images of Wiens before the transplant):
You can also see how much Wiens has progressed by watching WFAA’s interview with him from September 2011:
