A US first, New Hampshire woman gets second face transplant

In this May 1, 2013, file photo, Carmen Blandin Tarleton speaks at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston following a face transplant. In February 2007 her estranged husband doused her with industrial strength lye, burning more than 80 percent of her body. In July 2020, Tarleton became the first American and only the second person globally to undergo a second face transplant procedure after her first transplant failed. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File) In this May 1, 2013, file photo, Carmen Blandin Tarleton speaks at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston following a face transplant. In February 2007 her estranged husband doused her with industrial strength lye, burning more than 80 percent of her body. In July 2020, Tarleton became the first American and only the second person globally to undergo a second face transplant procedure after her first transplant failed. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

By MICHAEL CASEY / Associated Press August 7, 2020 5 min read

BOSTON (AP) – For the second time in a decade, a New Hampshire woman has a new face.

Carmen Blandin Tarleton, whose face was disfigured in an attack by her ex-husband, became the first American and only the second person globally to undergo the procedure after her first transplant began to fail six years after the operation. The transplant from an anonymous donor took place at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in July.

The 52-year-old former nurse is expected to resume her normal routine, which all but ended when the first transplant failed a year ago.

“I’m elated,” Tarleton told The Associated Press, in an exclusive telephone interview from her home in Manchester. She is still healing from the operation so photos are not being made available of her new face.

“The pain I had is gone,” she said. “It’s a new chapter in my life. I’ve been waiting for almost a year. I’m really happy. It’s what I needed. I got a great match.”