Carmen Blandin Tarleton, who had been doused with lye by her husband in 2007, reveals her new face for the first time since her transplant in February this year.
Tarleton's husband attacked her in 2007 when he suspected her of having an affair with another man. The incident burnt her face completely. Tarleton went through several surgeries, and finally in February, had a face transplant after receiving skin from a donor who died of a stroke. The donor's daughter Marinda Righter met Tarleton for the first time Tuesday and said the moment was magical.
"I get to feel my mother's skin again," she said Wednesday at a news conference at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, where Tarleton received her transplant.
"I get to see her freckles. Through you," she said, turning to Tarleton, "I get to see my mother live on. This is truly a blessing."
Tarleton revealed how thankful and blessed she felt at the event.
"I am forever grateful," she said. "Although I went through what some may call hell, I found my way to my own happiness."
Though Tarleton still has limited control of her facial muscles, she said the transplant has eased the pain in her neck she has been experiencing since the tragic incident and that she can finally feel sensation returning to her face.
In June 2007, Tarleton's husband Herbert Rodgers beat her with a baseball bat before throwing lye on her. Tarleton suffered 80 percent burns and was blinded. According to the police, Rodgers thought that his wife was having an affair with another man and had come to the house to catch them. When the police arrived at the scene, Tarleton's face had already been distorted and she was trying to get to the shower to wash off the chemical.
Tarleton has also published a book "Overcome: Burned, Blinded, and Blessed."
"I have been on this incredible journey for the last six years, and receiving this wonderful gift ends this chapter in my life," she said. "What a great way to move forward with what life has for me now."
