'Daddy, you're so handsome'

It's a miraculous about-face for the history books.

Just six weeks after receiving the nation's first full face transplant, Dallas Wiens, a 25-year-old construction worker from Fort Worth, Texas, appeared in public for the first time yesterday to show off his new features -- which prompted his young daughter to say, "Daddy, you're so handsome."

In footage aired on yesterday's "Good Morning America," Wiens -- who had suffered horrifying burns to his head 2½ years ago when a boom lift he was operating snagged a power line -- was reunited with his 3-year-old daughter, Scarlett, for the first time since his amazing surgery.

Wiens cited Scarlett as the reason he had signed on for the transplant in the first place.

"I could have lived like I was, no problem, if I did not have my daughter," said Wiens, who has been left blind by the accident.

"But I could not bear the thought of her growing up and being asked questions, 'Why does your daddy look different?' And dealing with that all of her childhood."

The devastating accident and the 22 surgeries that followed had left Wiens with a face without features.

All he had was a lipless mouth and a small goatee. He had no nose or eyes, and doctors even smoothed over his eye sockets with skin taken from other parts of his body.

Last March, a team of more than 30 doctors, nurses and anesthesiologists at Brigham and Woman's Hospital in Boston worked for more than 17 hours to build Wiens a new face using one from an anonymous donor that included muscles, nerves and a piece of nasal bone.

They were even able to create the muscles and nerves he needed to make it move.

Wiens also regained his sense of smell, as it was only the outside part of his nose that had been damaged.

Wiens said he cried when he woke up from the miracle surgery and felt his new nose.

The first thing he smelled was hospital lasagna.

"But it smelled really, really good," Wiens said.

Other phenomenal "firsts" for Wiens included blowing his nose and sneezing.

"This new face, it's not who I am. The old face wasn't, either," he said. "Who you are is inside -- it's internalized. It's who you show the world."

Wiens was the second person to undergo a face transplant at Brigham and Woman's Hospital. James Maki received a partial transplant in 2005 after accidentally falling face-first onto an electrified subway rail.

The world's first full face transplant was done in Spain in 2010.

‘Miracle’ transplant gives dad fresh start

The historic and ground-breaking full-face transplant conducted at Brigham and Women’s Hospital was aimed at giving hope to scores of severely battle-scarred soldiers of the Iraq and Afghan wars — but it also has given a brave little girl a daddy with a face.

A trailblazing team from Brigham and Women’s Hospital successfully completed the nation’s first complete-face transplant on a Texan left deformed by a high-voltage line accident. The only other full-face transplant was performed in Spain last year.

Dallas Wiens, 25, of Fort Worth underwent more than 15 hours of surgery last week by teams of doctors who worked to attach an anonymous donor’s nose, lips and skin, linking the donor’s facial muscles and nerves to his. The surgery was financed by the Department of Defense, which wants to develop ways to help disfigured soldiers.

“It’s a miracle, and he is determined to get well and make something of his life,” said Wiens’ grandfather, Del Peterson, who accompanied him to Boston. “His faith, and his will to live, and his youth kept him going.”

He also credits Wiens’ daughter, Scarlette, now 4, who was not yet 2 years old when he was injured, as a big reason to live after his world went dark.

“She’s the joy of his life,” Peterson said. Three years ago, doctors at the Parkland Hospital emergency room in Dallas told Wiens’ family he probably wouldn’t live.

“His whole face was gone, right down to the bone, and they called us in to say our goodbyes,” Peterson said. Wiens not only refused to die, he insisted on being with his little girl.

“The hospital introduced her to his injuries before she was 2, after they connected her with a child psychologist. The hospital said she wouldn’t recognize him, but Dallas said, ‘No, she’ll recognize my hands,’” Peterson said. Sure enough, he said, “Before she came in the room, he put his hands on his chest, and she said, ‘Those are Daddy’s hands!’ ”

Scarlette, back home in Texas, hasn’t seen her daddy’s new face, which remains swollen as he recovers. It could be months, but yesterday Wiens chatted with her by phone. With her youthful experience, the family isn’t worried this time that Scarlette won’t know her dad.

“I can recognize him through his personality and sense of humor,” Peterson said. “He’s determined to get well and make something of his life. He wants to go to college, and he has a lot of different interests.

“And I imagine that he’ll help other sightless people, too,” Peterson said.

Wiens already has. The Brigham and Women’s program that gave him a new face received a $3.4 million grant from the Department of Defense.

Facial transplant surgery remains in its infancy, with a few high-profile cases in France, Spain and the United States, while other patients wait, such as Charla Nash, the Connecticut woman mauled by a chimpanzee, a potential candidate for surgery at the Brigham.

Col. Janet R. Harris, a registered nurse with the Army Corps of Nurses, said yesterday that battlefield medical care has improved so much that there are as many as 100 American war veterans who might benefit from similar surgery.

“Many wouldn’t have survived before,” Harris said. “Eventually, we hope that this will move out of research and into the standard of care. We want to make sure our wounded warriors get covered . . . and get well.”