A face transplant is a medical procedure to replace all or part of a person's face using tissue from a donor., Robb and Alesia Stubblefield have been by her side – helping her “take four steps forward, two steps back,” as Robb describes it – since Katie, then 18, endured severe facial trauma and significant complications from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on March 25, 2014., Wearing glasses proved impossible without a nose. This transformational face transplant at Mayo Clinic means the now 30-year-old from Harbor Beach, Michigan, will once again be able to do all those things he has missed., A face transplant is a complex procedure and involves: a rigorous screening process, detailed surgical preparation,16 hours or more of surgery, nerve regeneration, physical therapy and immunosuppressive medications taken for the rest of the patient’s life., A face transplant is a rarely done surgery that uses donor facial tissues from someone who has died to replace all or part of a damaged face. It’s a complex procedure that requires multiple , .