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Soldier Approved For Face Transplant In Boston

BOSTON (CBS) -Brigham and Women's Hospital has given approval for a former soldier to receive a face transplant.

Mitch Hunter face transplant
Army Private Mitch Hunter before his accident.

Army Private Mitch Hunter of Indianapolis was left severely disfigured after saving a woman's life during a car accident ten years ago. Hunter pushed a live wire off the woman.

Hunter now lives with a severely scarred face, a prosthetic nose and leg.

He was evaluated at Brigham and Women's and deemed a valid face transplant candidate. Now he waits for a donor.

"That kind of does make me feel bad," Hunter acknowledged. "I don't want to have to wait for someone to pass away."

So far, there have been three face transplants performed in the United States, one of them at Brigham and Women's. It is one of only two hospitals in the country approved to perform the procedures.

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