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NH Woman Hoping For Second Face Transplant As First Procedure Fails

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — A woman who was severely burned in a domestic violence attack in Vermont is hoping for a second face transplant after doctors recently discovered tissue damage that likely will lead to the loss of her donor face.

Carmen Blandin Tarleton was burned over 80% of her body when her estranged husband beat her with a baseball bat and doused her body with lye in 2007. Six years ago, she received a face transplant at Brigham and Woman's Hospital in Boston, where she's being evaluated for a possible second transplant.

Carmen Blandin Tarleton
Carmen Blandin Tarleton at a press conference at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston in 2013. (WBZ-TV)

Tarleton, who now lives in Manchester, New Hampshire, told The Boston Globe that she has no regrets about the transplant because it dramatically improved her quality of life.

More than 40 patients worldwide have received face transplants.

(© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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