The Face Trust

  What is The Face Trust?

More than 400,000 men, women and children in the British Isles alone have a facial disfigurement and 250,000 are severely disfigured. Many of these people live an isolated life. Often the subject of unwanted curiosity and scrutiny from other people, they may be unable to lead the normal lives that we take for granted. Some rarely leave their homes and find it hard to make emotional contact with others. Many develop other illnesses or have serious psychological problems.

Surgical reconstruction and facial transplantation may be an option for a number of these people and The Face Trust has been set up fund research and treatment for them.

Until now, surgical reconstruction has only been possible using the patient’s own skin and tissue. Techniques for the reconstruction of badly injured faces have improved considerably since pioneering work carried out on badly burned pilots during the Second World War but, even now, the results are still functionally and cosmetically poor.

Facial Transplantation is proposed as the next step forward in facial reconstruction. Essentially, the facial skin of a donor is used to repair a severe injury in the recipient. In November 2005, the first partial face transplant involving the area surrounding the nose and mouth was successfully carried out in France. Shortly afterwards a team in China carried out a similar operation and several other surgical teams around the world have announced that they also wish to carry out transplants.

In the UK, reconstructive plastic surgeon Peter Butler has been carrying out research into the feasibility and ethical practicalities of face transplants for well over ten years. He has published many papers on the issues and practice of facial transplantation. Technically it has been possible to transplant facial tissue for several years but Mr Butler and his team believed that extensive research was still needed before a full face transplant could be contemplated in the UK.

Mr Butler’s team now believes that the time to prepare for a series of transplant operations is imminent. The team has applied for ethical permission to carry out the operation.

Throughout this long period of research and preparation, Mr Butler and every member of the team has given his or her time and expertise freely and the Royal Free Hospital has been generous in its support. But now funds are needed to pay for other costs of the operation, for the aftercare of the patient and for continuing research.

The Face Trust has been formed to fund such operations and other innovative treatments of facial disorders and injuries. The results of our research will continue to be published widely for the benefit of people Worldwide. Please click here if you would like to make a donation and help us help others.