This is The Guardian.

Today, the painful truth behind face transplant surgery.

Just as a heads up before we start, today's episode does contain graphic details of surgery,

which some listeners might find distressing.

In 2019, Robert Chelsea made medical history.

A terrible car accident on a freeway in Los Angeles had left him with horrific burns.

Actually, it was worse than that. His whole face was burnt off.

He spent 18 months in hospital and had multiple operations, but still couldn't lead anything like a normal life.

The way I was eating for about six years is through syringe.

The idea of not being able to kiss your own daughter's cheeks, it's just tough, you know.

Going out in public became an ordeal.

And a little boy, I guess he was about three or four years old, he looked at me and he froze.

And then he ran straight to his daddy and said, Daddy, Daddy, he looks like a zombie.

Doctors had reached their limits.

All the other specialists, they felt they couldn't do anything to help give me lips,

except make a flap that would cover my lips and protect my teeth and guns.

Then he was offered something that sounded like a miracle.

When I got the call, it was like 9.15 at night, and I had to get there every next morning,

from Los Angeles to Boston, about

3,000 miles. A full face transplant. A donor's face would be fused onto his in a 16-hour

operation. He became the first black patient and one of just 50 people across the world to have this groundbreaking procedure.

But it's come at an enormous cost.

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