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Miss Dinoire Woman Reveals New Face
Updated: 12:01, Monday February 06, 2006
A woman who received a ground-breaking facial transplant has declared: "I now have a face like everyone else."
Isabelle Dinoire, 38, gave her first ever press conference at Amiens Teaching Hospital in France.
Her speech had been slurred but the divorced mother-of-two explained how she was mauled by her pet Labrador last year.
Having received a new nose, chin and lips, she said: "I expect to resume a normal life ... I pay homage to the donor's family. My operation could help others to live again."
There had been suggestions Miss Dinoire was under the effects of sleeping pills when the dog started biting her face.
She only realised the extent of the damage when she tried to smoke a cigarette.
Computer image of face Shocking pictures of her tissue loss were projected on a screen at the conference.
Miss Dinoire had the 15-hour operation in November.
Before the attack, she reportedly had a wide, tilted nose, a prominent chin and thin lips.
Now, with the donated features of Maryline Saint-Aubert, she has a straight and narrow nose, a neater chin and a fuller mouth.
While doctors worked hard to match Miss Dinoire's skin tone with a donor, she used make-up to help merge the transplanted tissue.
A fine scar line runs from her nose, over her cheekbones and down to her jaw. She also seemed to have difficulty closing her mouth.
Doctors said she had initially found it difficult to eat and speak after the surgery.
