"Resiliant" Woman Gets First U.S. Face Transplant

This is amazing, heartbreaking and inspiring. On another level, it's a powerful testament to modern science. Here is the background:

A shotgun blast shattered Connie Culp's face in September 2004, smashing her nose, cheek and jaw. It robbed her of the ability to see, smell, even to smile. The shot came from the gun of Thomas Culp, her husband. His failed attempt at a murder-suicide sent him to prison for seven years -- and left his wife struggling to survive.

Culp did survive, but while the damage to her face occurred in an instant, her unlikely journey to recovery would take far longer. Over the next four years, she endured dozens of surgeries. These procedures repaired some of the damage, but Culp remained disfigured and unable to eat or breathe on her own.

So when Culp, who became the first patient in the United States to undergo a face transplant operation last December, appeared publicly to thank the doctors who performed the surgery, the occasion was an emotional one.

"I just want to say when somebody has a disfigurement and don't look as pretty as you do, don't judge them, because you never know what happened to them. I was shot," Culp said.

Dr. Kathy Coffman, the psychiatrist who worked with Culp, said she was a resilient patient, having been through 27 other procedures before the face transplant, and she believes Culp will be a good ambassador to other potential patients.

> Read the full story at ABC News

I'm so happy for her. I read in another piece how people called her a "monster" before the surgery - like Culp said, don't judge.

I'm also thankful that there are people good enough to give to others...even after death - as Culp said in her appearance:

"While I know you all want to focus on me, I think it's more important you focus on the donor family that made it so I could have this Christmas present, I guess I should say."

Watch her first public appearance and more picture of the stunning transplant: