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Robert Chelsea in August 2013 suffered third-degree burns that lined nearly half his physique after a drunk driver slammed into his automotive and despatched it into flames. Previous to the collision, the 68-year-old Los Angeles man had pulled over after his automotive developed a fault whereas he was returning residence from church, KTLA reported.
Chelsea, sadly, misplaced a good portion of his face on account of the accident. In 2019, he turned the oldest particular person and the primary African American to obtain a face transplant after a 16-hour process on the Brigham and Girls’s Hospital.
A GoFundMe that was arrange for Chelsea said that he obtained the face transplant after “enduring greater than 30 surgical procedures, three years of assessments, bodily and psychological evaluations, and an extended than standard await a donor.”
Chelsea’s restoration after the historic July 2019 transplant has been described as regular 4 years down the road. The swelling on his face has since gone down whereas he has additionally developed facial muscle mass in addition to grown a beard.
“The face feels high-quality,” he mentioned. “After I look within the mirror, I see one other particular person, little question about that.” Although Chelsea mentioned he is aware of it’s him, he reiterated that he’s “ one other particular person.”
Chelsea mentioned he counts himself as a fortunate recipient as organ donations inside the Black populace are very low, per KTLA. “As a result of I’m Black, I occurred to want a Black face so I’m very lucky,” Chelsea mentioned. “If somebody wants a kidney or a liver or a lung, it wouldn’t matter.”
Chelsea has since grow to be an advocate for organ donations in addition to the disabled. He additionally pays month-to-month visits to colleges to “encourage the youngsters to not tease their fellow friends as a result of they don’t stroll the identical, look the identical, speak the identical. So, respect your pals for who they’re and never for a way they seem like.”
Regardless of saying he has since grow to be oblivious to what “regular” seems to be like, Chelsea mentioned he’s nonetheless grateful to be alive. He additionally expressed his gratitude for the help he has obtained from his household and pals. Chelsea’s month-to-month medical payments after insurance coverage is round $5,500. The GoFundMe was set as much as assist increase funds for his medical bills.
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