Face Off :

Remember watching the movie Face/Off where a revolutionary medical technique allows an undercover agent to take the physical appearance of a major criminal and infiltrate his organization? Well, the video below is not a movie, but a scene from real-life.

Surgeons have replaced 80 percent of a woman's face, transplanting bone, teeth, muscle and nerve in the first such operation in the United States. She suffered severe trauma that cost her an eye, much of her nose and her upper jaw and left her unable to breathe, smell, taste or smile properly.The details about the woman, how she was injured, or who the donor was is still unknown.

Please be patient as the video may start with an advertisement.

She would need to take immune-suppressing drugs for life and may have to fight rejection. Now she can look forward to smiling again and taking a walk in the street without the fear of being called names or being humiliated because of her appearance. Reuters quotes the doctors : "We very much hope that for this very special group of patients there is a hope that someday they will be able to go comfortably from their houses and enjoy the things we take for granted."

The operation is the fourth done globally. French surgeons replaced much of the face of a woman in 2005 after she was disfigured in an attack by her dog. Last year, her doctors reported that she recovered slowly and steadily, overcoming two episodes of rejection.