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US doctors prepare to repair Guyanese bullet riddled face
After five long years and 20 complicated facial surgeries, Brandy Elias, a shooting victim, will finally get a new nose on her bullet-shattered face, thanks to doctors at NYU Medical Centre.
“I know the doctors will do an amazing job,” said Elias, 24. “I’m nervous, but so excited.”
Volunteer doctors have already performed three surgeries to create the new nose, using skin, blood and cartilage from her forearm.
Brandy Elias, whose nose was destroyed by thugs in Guyana, will get a new one thanks to Drs. Minas Constantinides and Mark DeLacure of the NYU Medical Center.
Incredibly, Elias’s new nose is currently attached to her arm, and the doctors will move it to her face this morning.
“It’s really an amazing thing,” said Dr. Minas Constantinides.
Even more amazingly, the surgery won’t cost Elias a penny.
Constantinides and Dr. Mark DeLacure volunteered their services as part of the Face to Face project, a free programme of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Elias’s tortuous journey started on July 23, 2004, as she was driving with a cousin and a friend in Guyana.
Thugs opened fire, killing the other two people. The bullets tore away Elias’s nasal cavity and left her with shattered cheek and nasal bones.
Elias nearly lost hope. “Why did I live and they died?” she asked.
A break came when her godfather, Robert Bowden, read about the Face to Face programme in the Daily News and contacted Jeremiah Drake, who helps the programme find candidates for help.
“He showed me a photograph of Brandy and I couldn’t say no,” said Drake. “I knew I could help.”
Elias moved to the U.S. last year.
After being disfigured for so long, she even thinks she might miss the gauze that’s been shielding her face from the world.
“I’m excited to take the bandage off, but I’m going to miss it,” Elias said with a giggle. “I’ve been wearing it for so long, I’ve become emotionally attached to it.”(NY Daily)
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