Isabelle Dinoire, who received the world's first partial face transplant, addresses a news conference at Amiens hospital in northern France, February 6, 2006.(Xinhua photo)

    BEIJING, Feb. 7 -- A Frenchwoman who underwent the world's first partial face transplant spoke to reporters yesterday for the first time since her operation, saying she was grateful for a new start in life.

    Isabelle Dinoire, 38, spoke in labored, slurred tones. She still has fine scar lines running from her nose down to her jaw and did not seem to be able to close her mouth.

    "I want to resume a normal life," Dinoire told reporters at Amiens hospital in northeastern France, where she received a new nose, lips and chin in November.

    In a 15-hour operation surgeons used tissues, muscles, arteries and veins from a dead woman to rebuild Dinoire's face.

    Dinoire smiled as she described what she had suffered after being mauled and disfigured by her own dog last May.

    "Every day, when I left my house, I had to face up to people's stares and what they were thinking," she said. Eating and speaking were difficult.

    "Since the day of the operation I have had a face like everybody else," Dinoire said, adding she would need to continue treatment and exercises to regain full use of her facial muscles.

    She said she hoped her operation could pave the way for others to find a new life.

    Doctors have criticized media coverage of the case, saying much of it has been sensationalist, and have asked for reporters to respect the patient's privacy. Enditem

(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)

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