I am Robert Chelsea
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2021
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Robert Chelsea suffered horrific burns after his stationary car was hit by a truck with a drunk driver at the wheel, in Los Angeles in 2013. He survived and went ahead with a series of demanding surgical operations at a Boston hospital in an attempt to restore his appearance. A shortage of black donors meant it was a long wait for his doctors to find even a partial match for his skin colour. The operation was a success. Although he still has difficulty speaking, he can now eat and drink without difficulty. In a moving narrative, Robert, his friends, family and doctors reflect on his remarkable journey.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to the BBC World Service and this is Robert Chelsea. |
| 0:07.0 | I was just a regular normal person before the auto accident. |
| 0:15.0 | In 2019, Robert became the first black man in the world |
| 0:19.0 | to have a full face transplant. |
| 0:22.0 | A year after the face transplant, it's not a question of accepting the |
| 0:27.5 | face, it's getting used to it. I'm Emilio San Pedro and just a quick warning some of the details in Robert's story are quite graphic and it may take some listeners a moment or two to tune into Robert's voice, but as he tells you himself, |
| 0:44.0 | I can't control my lips as well, so sometimes my words, a lot of times, |
| 0:50.0 | my words just will not come together. |
| 0:53.5 | Robert 70 and from LA. |
| 0:56.6 | If you ask his friends to describe him, |
| 0:58.8 | words like humble and spiritual come up a lot. Two words that maybe don't spring to mind |
| 1:05.0 | when you think of a lifelong salesman. |
| 1:08.0 | I've always been in sales, |
| 1:09.0 | I always look for job opportunities, |
| 1:11.0 | whatever, so I think you kind of make the best of whatever |
| 1:16.1 | opportunity you offer. In 2013 Robert was selling printing equipment looking |
| 1:22.1 | after his daughter going to church on Sunday, in his own |
| 1:25.9 | words just living an ordinary life until everything changed. |
| 1:30.9 | Who do I see when I look at the mirror? |
| 1:33.3 | I see another person Robert is going to have to get used to. |
| 1:38.5 | This is Robert's story. |
| 1:47.0 | The accident occurred in 2013, August the 5th my car was overheating at the time I was talking with a friend |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.