Connie Culp has become the first person to undergo a full face transplant.

Culp, a 46-year-old Ohio resident, was shot in the face by her husband, Thomas Culp, in 2004. Mr. Culp then turned the gun on himself. He survived and was sentenced to seven years in jail.

The incident left Connie Culp without a nose and palate. She has been unable to breathe on her own, eat solid food, smell or smile. Over the last several years, she has undergone reconstructive procedures; however, none of the available treatments could restore her facial functions. Then, in December 2008, a team of eight surgeons at Cleveland Clinic operated on Culp for 22 hours and replaced 80 percent of her face – essentially transplanting the full face, with the exception of her upper eyelids, forehead, lower lip and chin.

The surgery, though successful, has serious risks, including rejection of the tissue. Mrs. Culp will now be committed to lifelong use of immunosuppressing medications, which can lead to infection and other diseases. Some experts question the value of such risk, considering that facial disfigurement is not a life-threatening situation.

Facial disfigurement, however, is life-altering, affecting a person’s quality of life. Many people with facial disfigurement become recluses, choosing not to be exposed to a public that will stare, taunt or react with fear.

"Our faces are more than visages to be adorned or veiled. They are essential to our communication with the world … No other aspect of our anatomy is capable of even a fraction of the complexity of motion and emotion allowed by the muscles and tissues of the face," Dr. Maria Siemionow, director of plastic-surgery research at the clinic, wrote in her book Transplanting a Face: Notes on a Life in Medicine.

Cleveland Clinic, a nonprofit hospital, first approved the face transplant procedure in 2004. It took five years to find both a proper candidate, as well as donor. Gender, race, approximate age and blood type should all match. Even when a match is found, the donor family needs to be willing to donate facial tissue.

In the movie "Face/Off" John Travolta and Nicholas Cage’s characters trade faces in what seemed to be a full facial transplant surgery. In real life, the operation is quite different in that the recipient won’t usually look like the donor. Cleveland Clinic explains on their website that even though some bone was transferred from the donor to the recipient, the underlying facial structure of any two people is very different. Plus, a person’s identity is more than skin and bones, relying on expression, animation and social interaction.

Old photographs below show what Culp looked like before her husband shot her, after the incident and today. (Images via Cleveland Clinic)

On Tuesday, Culp addressed the world with her new face for the first time. She started off by saying:

Well, I guess I’m the one you came to see today. While I know you all want to focus on me, I think it’s more important you focus on the donor family that made it so I could have this Christmas present, I guess I should say.

Watch the press conference below:

Read more in The Wall Street Journal and on the Cleveland Clinic website.