Face Transplant

This is a difficult story, but ultimately one of hope. At eighteen, Katie Stubblefield attempted suicide after a heartbreak, shooting herself in the face with a rifle. Once a beautiful, straight-A student, her life changed in an instant.

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Over the next several years, Katie endured countless surgeries as doctors worked to rebuild her face and preserve what remained of her bone structure while waiting for the miracle of a donor. Her parents, both teachers, put their lives on hold, living with her for more than four years at the Ronald McDonald House in Cleveland, Ohio.

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That miracle came when a grandmother chose to donate her granddaughter’s face after the young woman was declared brain-dead from a drug overdose. Katie became the youngest person in U.S. history to receive a face transplant.

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This extraordinary story about resilience, science, and the human capacity for renewal was published in National Geographic in September 2018 and was named a Pulitzer Prize Finalist in 2019.