A 21-year-old woman became the youngest person in the United States to receive a face transplant, three years after shooting herself in a botched suicide attempt.
Katie Stubblefield doesn't remember the day she tried to take her own life in the bathroom at her older brother's home in Mississippi on March 25, 2014 - nor much in the months after that.
She was transferred from her local hospital in Oxford to one in Memphis, Tennessee, then on to Cleveland, Ohio, in a desperate bid to save her life.
By the start of 2016 she was declared stable, and on May 4, 2017 she made history, undergoing 31 hours of surgery at the Cleveland Clinic to receive a face transplant that will restore her face structure, and allow her to chew, swallow and breathe independently for the first time in years.
'I get a second chance at life now,' Katie, now 22, said in a National Geographic documentary, released today to coincide with the cover story 'The Story of a Face', revealing her struggle.
Katie is the 40th person in the world to receive a face transplant, and the third at the Cleveland Clinic, which is regarded as the pioneer in facial reconstruction in the US.
However, hers was slightly different to the ones that came before: not only is she the youngest ever, but it was the longest face transplant ever performed - pushing the surgical team to new limits.
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Historic: Katie Stubblefield tried to take her own life in March 2014 with a rifle. On May 4, 2017, she became the youngest person ever to receive a face transplant. Pictured: Katie (left) aged 17, eight months before her attempted suicide; and (right) at 22, a year after her transplant. She is now on immunosuppressant drugs as she learns how to walk, speak, and read Braille
Katie (pictured, left, before her operation and, right, after) is the 40th person in the world to receive a face transplant, and the third at the Cleveland Clinic
Katie's parents Alesia and Robb lived in the Ronald McDonald house in Cleveland during Katie's recovery period
MOVING CITIES, MEDICAL WOES, FAMILY STRUGGLES, AND HEARTBREAK: THE AGONIZING TWO YEARS THAT LED TO KATIE'S SHOOTING
Relatives told National Geographic that Katie was a fun girl with an infectious sense of humor and wit growing up in Lakeland, Florida. She was close to her older sister Olivia and older brother Robert.
But over time, they say, they started to see her recoiling, pressuring herself to be the best in academia and sport.
When she was around 16 years old, her parents Alesia and Robb, a minister, moved the family to Kentucky, then a year later to Oxford, Mississippi.
There, both Alesia and Robb became teachers at the same Christian school where Katie enrolled as a student.
According to the magazine, when Katie arrived at school she met a fellow student who immediately captured her attention. The two started dating and she was soon talking 'love' and 'marriage'.
He was a rock for Katie as she endured uncomfortable and severe health problems. In January 2014, in her senior year, she had her appendix taken out, the digestive issues she had long battled started to flare up, and she had her gallbladder removed.
But in March, the headmaster of the school - who Katie saw as a source of support - made both her parents redundant.
On March 25, she saw texts on her boyfriend's phone from another girl, and when confronted, he ended their relationship.
She went to her brother's house, distressed. After a while, she went to the bathroom and shot herself under the chin using his hunting rifle, a .308-caliber.
Robert told National Geographic he rushed upstairs, found Katie on the floor, and 'her face was gone'.
Katie's was the longest face transplant ever performed, and she is the youngest recipient.National Geographic photographers shadowed her for two years, and today shared her ordeal in their cover story The Story Of A Face
LIFE OR DEATH: HOW DOCTORS IN THREE CITIES WORKED NIGHT AND DAY TO SAVE KATIE FROM DEATH
According to National Geographic, when Katie was hospitalized in March 2014, she was taken straight to a hospital in Oxford, Mississippi, with intracranial injuries.
Shortly after, she was transferred to Memphis, Tennessee, where doctors stabilized her.
They inserted a tracheostomy, stabilized her jaw and cheekbones, sewed her eyelids shut so her corneas could heal, and patched up a torn brain membrane.
Over the next two weeks they opened her skull up to stem bleeding on her brain, used skin grafts to close open wounds on her face.
However, her wounds would not stay shut because the skin grafts kept failing, so they recommended transferring her to Cleveland Clinic, which is a world leader in intracranial trauma.
As surgeons raced to save her and patch up her external and internal wounds, they mentioned the term 'face transplant' to Katie's family. They had never heard of it before.
The doctors explained that Katie was young, and at the time not stable enough to undergo such an operation, but that Cleveland may be able to help them.
On May 2, 2014, she was transferred to Ohio. First thing,they repaired her bone structure, including her nose, nasal passage and jaw,
The next two years were a whirlwind of operations, with Katie being ferried in and out of hospital, rehab and the Ronald McDonald house where her family was staying to be near her.
Eventually, at the end of 2015, she was declared stable. Katie was on the transplant list from March 2016.
While they were waiting for a donor, there was plenty of work to be done.
Before the surgery, Katie's eye were not aligned and were far apart, so at the beginning of April 2016, surgeons cut through the bones surrounding her eyes, and applied a 'distraction device' to her face.
The device consists of a metal disk on each of her cheeks, with two metal rods connecting them, which can be adjusted accordingly as the bone regrows.
While the device was still working, they other things to do to prepare her face for the transplant.
On April 15, they removed some facial tissue that was at risk of infection. A couple of days later they inserted tissue expanders on her right cheek to stretch the skin and make it easier to work with. A week later, they fitted more plates around her eyes to keep them in place.
Katie kept the distraction device on for two more months, until the end of June.
Donor: Katie received the face of Adrea Schneider (pictured), a mother-of-one who died of a drug overdose at 31
THE DONOR: MOTHER-OF-ONE, 31, WHO DIED OF AN OVERDOSE AFTER A LIFETIME OF TURMOIL SET OFF BY HER DRUG ADDICT MOM
At the start of May 2017, a donor emerged.
Katie has received the face of Adrea Schneider, a mother-of-one who died of a drug overdose at 31, according to National Geographic.
Adrea's grandmother Sandra had to adopt her at 11 years old due to her mother's drug addiction. Adrea's mother died two years later.
Though Adrea was a registered organ donor, Sandra had to approve the use of her extremities.
Adrea's 15-year-old son knows that his mother has saved the lives of seven people thanks to organ donation, but he still doesn't know her face was used, National Geographic says.
Katie will not look like Adrea, because the face molds to her body.
Nonetheless, such a transformation is a psychological ordeal that defies our entire understanding of our sense of self.
Katie was given hours of therapy and psychological screening to ensure she was ready for such a step.
Then, on May 4, 2017, she went in for the operation.
THE OPERATION: 3D PRINTING, VIRTUAL REALITY, AND 31 HOURS OF INTRICATE SURGERY
The surgery involved 11 surgeons and virtual reality techniques, spanning overnight.
There were 15 specialities involved in Katie's operation: plastic surgery, neurology, endocrinology, nursing, transplant surgery, anesthesia, dentistry, ophthalmology, infectious disease, pharmacy, psychiatry, nutrition, internal medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation, vasuclar medicine and surgery.
Given the fact that just seven have been performed in the US - bar Katie's - face transplants are still considered 'experimental'.
Both full transplants, as Katie had, and partial transplants involve replacing the patient's face with new skin, nerves, blood vessels, and bone from a donor.
Before going into the operating theater, the surgical team 3D-printed a lower jaw that would account for 90 percent of the final result. The new version is modeled on a scan of her older sister's jaw.
Then they went in.
Before going into the operating theater, the surgical team 3D-printed a lower jaw that would account for 90 percent of the final result. The new version is modeled on a scan of her older sister's jaw
There were 15 specialities involved in Katie's operation: plastic surgery, neurology, endocrinology, nursing, transplant surgery, anesthesia, dentistry, ophthalmology, infectious disease, pharmacy, psychiatry, nutrition, internal medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation, vasuclar medicine and surgery
The surgery involved 11 surgeons and virtual reality techniques, spanning overnight
The team had to gradually mold the face to fit Katie's skull structure. Adrea's face was wider than Katie's, and Katie's bone structure was longer. Here, one of the surgical team members uses photos taken of Katie before the operation as a guide
'Her whole story made our team come together much faster, and we sort of ran toward her to take care of her,' explained Dr Brian Gastman, who was part of the surgical team
It was an operation that galvanized the cream of Cleveland's medics.
'Her whole story made our team come together much faster, and we sort of ran toward her to take care of her,' explained Dr Brian Gastman, who was part of the surgical team.
'We would do that for anybody, but many of us are parents ourselves and we saw what her own parents were going through.'
For the operation, the surgeons had to replace her scalp, nose, upper cheeks, upper jaw, half of her lower jaw, forehead, eyelids, eye sockets, muscles, skin and most of her facial nerves.
This involved connecting the blood vessels of Adrea's face to Katie's face, to allow blood flow into the face.
There were many challenges to the surgery, Dr Gastman said.
The surgery reconstructed Katie's nose and jaw in a way that would only have been possible with a face transplant (pictured before and after)
'In this case it was to get any foreign material out of her, getting her brain from being exposed to the environment, trying to preserve any critical structures - like her major arteries and her nerves, and her eyes also - [from being] exposed to the elements,' he said.
'Then there [were] functional aspects, getting her to breathe and talk and eat, even. Those were all part of our reconstructive plan.'
Dr Gastman said it will hopefully give Katie a 'functional life.'
'The main goal was, in one large surgery, to give her back both form and function, that was the main goal, and then to give her the chance to psychologically rehabilitate.'
She will be able to breathe, speak, chew and express emotions more effectively - all things she has not been able to do since she was a teenager.
'With a new nose, lips, palate, eyelids and jaw, she now has the opportunity to re-integrate into society and have a future just like any other young adult. The surgery can give her back the self-esteem and confidence she lost,' Dr Gastman explained.
They say facial reconstruction alone wouldn't have accomplished that because of the extensive nature of the damage to her skin and bones.
'This was an excellent result. Given the situation, I am very happy with how she's doing,' Dr Gastman said.
RECOVERY: KATIE NOW 'HAS A MISSION IN HER LIFE' TO HELP OTHER SUICIDE SURVIVORS
Katie was discharged on August 1, 2017. She is now on a cocktail of immunosuppressant drugs as she continues therapy to re-learn how to walk, move, speak, and read Braille.
Surgery and post-operative care can cost patients $70,000, and sourcing the funds can be tough.
'Plastic surgery is about restoring form and function,' said Dr Frank Papay, chairman of the Clinic's Dermatology and Plastic Surgery Institute and who co-directed the surgery.
'Function comes before form, and prior to the face transplant, this patient had extremely poor function and form.
'Our job in reconstruction is to weigh the risk versus the benefit of doing face transplantation, and we felt the risk was well worth it to give [Katie] better function, better social form and, ultimately, a better life.'
Now, Katie (pictured recently) will be able to breathe, speak, chew and express emotions more effectively - all things she has not been able to do since she was a teenager
Katie exercising with physical therapists Becky Vano and Nicole Bliss to boost strength in her legs three weeks after surgery
Family love: Katie's parents Alesia and Robb (pictured) have been by her side through her recovery in Cleveland, Ohio
'[Katie's parents] were heartbroken and shocked at what happened, but they have embraced it,' said photographer Maggie Steber, who has shadowed Katie and her family for two-and-a-half years, every waking moment of every day.
'They are warriors. They're like eagles who are protecting a young bird. And now Katie has a mission in her life. She can try to save other young lives.'
As for Katie, she hopes to go back to school online, heading towards qualifying as a counselor. Ultimately, she says, she would like to work with other suicide survivors.
For confidential help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or click here
For confidential support on suicide matters in the UK, call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here
For confidential support in Australia, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or click here
A 22-YEAR-OLD has become the youngest person ever to receive a face transplant – after she blasted herself with a hunting rifle in a horrific suicide attempt.
Katie Stubblefield underwent a pioneering 31 hour operation in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 4, 2017 – over two years after she aimed the gun at her chin and pulled the trigger.
Stubblefield family photo/Martin Schoeller 9 Suicide survivor Katie now has a new face after undergoing a pioneering 31 hour operation
The brave young woman, who now has the face of a mother who died of a drug overdose, told National Geographic: “I get a second chance at life now.”
Katie, from Oxford, Mississippi, tried to take her own life on March 25, 2014, after her boyfriend dumped her.
Her brother Robert, whose hunting rifle the then-schoolgirl had used, told Nat Geo that his sister’s “face was gone” when he found her lying on the bathroom floor.
She was rushed to a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where doctors stabilised her jaw and cheekbones and sewed her eyelids shut to enable her damaged corneas to heal.
Katie’s skull was also opened as medics stopped the bleeding on her brain.
Cleveland Clinic 9 The 22-year-old shot herself after her boyfriend dumped her
Cleveland Clinic 9 A team of specialist doctors used 3D printing technology to help give Katie a second chance at life
Lynn Johnson/National Geographic 9 The brave young woman recieved the face of a mum who died of a drug overdose
National Geographic 9 Katie's courageous journey was featured in National Geographic
However, when her skin grafts kept failing she was transferred to Cleveland Clinic – a world leader in face transplants.
Doctors in Ohio repaired the youngster’s bone structure, including her nose, nasal passage and jaw.
At the end of 2015, she was finally declared stable and placed on the transplant list in March the following year.
She was given hours of therapy to help her prepare for the aftermath of the operation and the considerable psychological impact having another person's face can cause.
Cleveland Clinic 9 Katie shot herself with her brother's hunting rifle
Maggie Steber/National Geographic 9 She underwent hours of therapy to prepare her for life with another person's face
National Geographic 9 Katie with her loving mother and father before the surgery
Bennington Family 9 Adrea Schneider, a mother-of-one who died of a drug overdose, whose face was given to Katie
Then on May 4 last year, Katie became only the eighth person in the US to undergo face transplant surgery.
A team of 15 specialist doctors gave her new skin, bone, blood vessels and nerves.
The cutting-edge Cleveland hospital even 3D printed a new jaw for Katie using a scan of her older sister's.
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She was discharged on August 1, 2017 and continues to take a variety of immunosuppressant drugs to ensure her body does not reject her new face.
The 22-year-old is also re-learning how to walk and speak while also continuing to undergo therapy.
Katie, raised by her Christian minister father and teacher mother, hopes to complete her studies and become a counsellor helping other survivors of suicide.
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KATIE Stubblefield was the youngest ever person to receive a face transplant.
Here we look at her amazing story, from nearly dying to an extraordinary facial surgery that has given her a new start.
Cleveland Clinic 2 Thanks to her incredible operation, Katie Stubblefield is forging a new life
Who is Katie Stubblefield?
The 21-year-old lost her face after shooting herself aged 18 in her brother's bathroom in Mississippi, USA.
She can’t remember doing it but it did come after a series of personal setbacks which included finding out her boyfriend was texting another girl and she had also recently undergone surgery for a painful gut condition.
What did she look like before her face transplant?
Miss Stubblefield survived but was left fighting for her life.
She had lost her forehead, nose and sinuses.
Her mouth was also gone except for the corners of her lips.
Meanwhile much of the bones that make up the jaws and front of her face were blown off too.
Her eyes remained - but they were askew and badly damaged.
Stubblefield family photo/Martin Schoeller 2 The final result may not look exactly like she did, but it did gave her a face
What was involved in her face transplant?
On May 4, 2017, Cleveland Clinic surgeons sewed on to her the face of mother-of-one Adrea Schneider, 31, who died of a drug overdose.
The 31 hour operation was the longest of its kind ever carried out.
As well as having a face, she can now chew, swallow and breathe independently for the first time in years.
The op had been paid for by the US Department of Defence through the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine.
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What is she doing now?
Katie is recovering, learning Braille, and hopes to become a counsellor
Stubblefield plans on attending online college soon to pursue this career as well as learning motivational speaking, specifically to raise awareness about suicide and how to prevent people taking their own lives.
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans on 116123.
TRIBUNSTYLE.COM - Gadis 21 tahun asal Amerika Serikat menjalani operasi transplantasi wajah setelah mukanya hancur dalam upaya bunuh diri.
Katie Stubblefield menembak dirinya sendiri dengan senapan berburu berkaliber 308.
Ia menembakan diri di kamar mandi rumahnya di Mississippi pada Maret 2014.
Beruntung Katie masih ditemukan selamat oleh kakak lelakinya Robert.
"Wajahnya hilang," Robert masih ingat betul kejadian itu seperti dilansir Tribunstyle.com dari nypost.com yang mengutip National Geographic pada Rabu (15/8/2018).
Meski ditemukan selamat tetapi wajah Katie rusak parah.
Mata Katie masih berfungsi meski mengalami luka hingga terlihat miring.
"Saya tidak pernah berpikir untuk melakukan itu (bunuh diri) sebelumnya," kata Katie.
