Ohio woman shows off U.S. face transplant

CLEVELAND, May 6 (UPI) -- An Ohio woman who became the first U.S. recipient of a face transplant has decided to reveal her identity because she is about to leave the Cleveland Clinic.

Officials at the clinic where Connie Culp, 46, underwent a 22-hour transplant operation in December say they worried she would be besieged by media once she returned home, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Culp was left unable to breathe on her own, eat solid food, smell or smile by a shotgun blast in 2004 that destroyed most of her face.

The incident left her without a nose, lower eyelids, upper jaw, palate and other features.

At a news briefing Tuesday, the team of eight doctors who performed the face transplant surgery on Culp said would it enable her to drink from a cup, eat solid food, smell and breathe through her nose.

Culp was chosen for a transplant because of the seriousness of her injury and what doctors described as a positive attitude.