Turkey's first face transplant patient sees his new face

Turkey's first face transplant patient Ugur Acar on Monday saw himself in the mirror for the first time after a successful surgery three weeks ago, the country's semi-official Anatolia news agency reported. On Jan. 21, a surgery team headed by Dr. Omer Ozkan carried out Turkey's first-ever face transplant surgery in the southern province of Antalya on Acar, 19, whose face was almost completely seared by a burning blanket when he was only 40 days old. "I thank all Turkish doctors. This cannot be better. 2012 is a lucky year for me," Acar said when looking at himself for the first time after hesitating for several seconds with a mirror in his hands. Ozkan said that they were planning to discharge Acar from the hospital 45 days later, according to the report. Ozkan's surgery team also performed Turkey's first double arm transplant in September 2010 and the world's first womb transplant from a cadaveric donor in August 2011.