ALRIGHT, SO OUR NEXT STORY IS ONE OF REMARKABLE TRAGEDY, BUT EVEN MORE REMARKABLE RESILIENCE.
SIX YEARS AGO, AN AMERICAN WOMAN'S LIFE CHANGED DRAMATICALLY WHEN HER ESTRANGED HUSBAND ATTACKED
HER WITH LYE.
THE ATTACK LEFT CARMEN TARLETON VIRTUALLY BLIND AND HORRIFICALLY DISFIGURED, WITH EXTENSIVE
CHEMICAL BURNS.
BUT IN 2011, TARLETON RECEIVED SOME GOOD NEWS.
DOCTORS HAD FOUND HER A NEW FACE.
AND EARLIER THIS YEAR, SHE BECAME THE FIFTH PERSON IN THE U.S. TO UNDERGO A FULL FACE
TRANSPLANT.
VOA URDU SERVICE REPORTER SARAH ZAMAN INTERVIEWED CARMEN ABOUT IT, AND CAME AWAY WITH A NEW
APPRECIATION FOR THE STRENGTH OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT.
LET'S WATCH.
IN SEPTEMBER 2007, A FEW WEEKS AFTER HER DIVORCE, CARMEN'S EX-HUSBAND BROKE INTO HER HOUSE,
BEAT HER WITH A BASEBALL BAT, AND DOUSED HER WITH LYE.
THE ATTACK LASTED A FEW MINUTES, AND BURNED OVER 80 PERCENT OF CARMEN'S BODY.
WHEN IT WAS OVER, CARMEN WAS BLIND AND HER FACE WAS SCARRED BEYOND RECOGNITION.
MOST OF OUR MARRIAGE WAS GOOD.
HE WAS NOT ABUSIVE IN ANY WAY, NOT VERBALLY, EMOTIONALLY OR PHYSICALLY, UNTIL THE NIGHT
HE ATTACKED ME.
ALMOST FOUR YEARS AFTER THE ATTACK, IN DECEMBER 2011, CARMEN'S DOCTOR GAVE HER LIFE-CHANGING
NEWS.
SHE HAD BEEN SELECTED AS A CANDIDATE FOR A FACE TRANSPLANT.
DOCTORS WOULD REMOVE HER SCARRED FACE AND REPLACE IT WITH A HEALTHY ONE.
BUT SURGERY WOULD BE RISKY, AS CARMEN'S IMMUNE SYSTEM WAS WEAK AFTER YEARS OF INVASIVE MEDICAL
TREATMENTS.
HER BODY MIGHT REJECT THE NEW FACE IF DOCTORS WERE ABLE TO FIND ONE.
IT TOOK NEARLY A YEAR, BUT DOCTORS FINALLY CAME ACROSS 54-YEAR-OLD SHARON RIGHTER, WHO
HAD RECENTLY DIED OF A STROKE.
HER KIDNEYS, LIVER AND ARM TISSUE HAD ALREADY BEEN DONATED TO FOUR DIFFERENT PEOPLE.
HER DAUGHTER DECIDED TO DONATE HER MOTHER'S FACE AS WELL.
THE FACIAL TRANSPLANT, ALL OF THAT, THESE WERE BIG DECISIONS, BUT ALSO REALLY EASY FOR
ME TO MAKE BECAUSE OF THE PERSON THAT MY MOTHER WAS.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO PROFILE HER?
I SAW HER WHEN SHE MADE HER APPEARANCE RIGHT AFTER THE FACE TRANSPLANT.
I SAW HER IN A PRESS CONFERENCE ON TV, AND I THOUGH THAT THIS IS A STORY THAT'S GOING
TO RESONATE A LOT WITH OUR PRIMARY AUDIENCE WHICH IS PEOPLE IN PAKISTAN.
ACID ATTACKS ARE A HARSH TRAGIC REALITY IN PAKISTAN, AND TO SEE THAT SOMETHING SIMILAR
HAPPENED TO SOMEBODY OVER HERE, BUT THAT THROUGH THE ADVANCEMENT IN SCIENCE, THEY WERE ACTUALLY
ABLE TO HELP THIS PERSON LEAD A LIFE THAT'S MORE NORMAL THAN WHAT ACID ATTACK VICTIMS
IN PAKISTAN HAVE.
FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS, CARMEN WAS KEPT IN A MEDICALLY-INDUCED COMA.
DURING THIS TIME, DOCTORS AT BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS PERFORMED
CLOSE TO 40 SURGERIES ON HER AND GAVE HER A NEW LEASE ON LIFE.
BUT THIS LIFE CAME WITH NEW CHALLENGES.
I REALLY STRUGGLED WITH BEING COMPLETELY BLIND.
I WAS 39 YEARS OLD, AND I WAS STRUGGLING BECAUSE I HAD ALL OF THESE WOUNDS, I HAD ALL THESE
OPEN WOUNDS FOR FOUR YEARS.
AND FOR THE FIRST COUPLE OF YEARS I COULDN'T SEE THEM, I COULDN'T SEE WHAT EVERYBODY WAS
TALKING ABOUT.
BUT EVEN IN HER DARKEST HOURS, CARMEN DID NOT LOSE HOPE.
I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I REALLY SOAKED IN AT THE TIME.
I KEPT MYSELF PRETTY STRONG ABOUT IT.
WORKING FOR THE URDU SERVICE, THIS OBVIOUSLY AS YOU SAID, YOUR PRIMARY AUDIENCE IS IN PAKISTAN.
SO WHAT WERE YOU HOPING IN DOING THIS STORY AND IN PROFILING CARMEN THAT PEOPLE IN PAKISTAN
MIGHT TAKE AWAY FROM IT?
SO WHEN I WAS GOING TO DO THIS STORY MY IDEA WAS THAT PEOPLE IN PAKISTAN, BECAUSE THEY
DON'T EXPECT SOMETHING LIKE THIS TO HAPPEN IN THE U-S, WILL FIND THIS DIFFERENT, SO YOU
KNOW PART OF ALWAYS DOING A STORY IS THE ODDITY, THAT IT'S GOING TO BE A DIFFERENT THING FOR
YOUR VIEWERS.
AND THEY'LL RELATE TO IT BECAUSE OF THEIR OWN EXPERIENCES...
EXACTLY, THE OTHER THING WAS THAT THEY'LL BE ABLE TO RELATE TO IT BECAUSE THEY HAVE
SEEN SIMILAR EVENTS, AND THE THIRD THING WAS THE IDEA OF A FACE TRANSPLANT.
YOU CAN HAVE A PARTIAL FACIAL TRANSPLANT, YOU CAN HAVE A FULL FACE TRANSPLANT.
SO I THINK I WANTED TO NOT JUST HIGHLIGHT THE ISSUE OF VIOLENCE BUT ALSO KIND OF FOCUS
ON THE KIND OF TREATMENT THAT'S POSSIBLE IN THE WORLD TODAY.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE FOR YOU TALKING TO HER?
SEE, BEFORE GOING TO MEET HER, I WAS TALKING TO A FRIEND WHO'S A PSYCHOLOGIST, AND I WAS
JUST TALKING TO HER ABOUT HOW CAN I PREPARE MYSELF WELL TO SHOW RESPECT TO HER, BUT WHEN
I WENT THERE AND I STARTED TALKING TO HER, IN ABOUT 10 MINUTES, ONE, I WAS COMPLETELY
IN AWE OF HER BECAUSE OF HER DEMEANOR, AND SECONDLY, I FELT SO MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE,
AND I TOLD HER, I SAID, YOU KNOW, I WAS WORRIED BEFORE MEETING YOU, BUT YOU PUT PEOPLE AT
EASE.
SO MANY MORE GOODNESS THAT'S COME OUT OF IT, THAN THE NEGATIVITY THAT HE FIRST STARTED.
I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW THAT NO MATTER WHAT CHALLENGES COME INTO THEIR LIFE, THE CHALLENGES
HAVE COME TO PROPEL THEM TO A NEW PLACE, AND THERE'S NOTHING THAT THEY CAN'T OVERCOME.
AND I TRULY, TRULY BELIEVE THAT WITH ALL MY HEART.
SO PHIL, WE BOTH HAD A HAND IN WORKING ON THAT STORY.
YOU PRODUCED IT, AND THEN I INTERVIEWED SARAH.
AND I DO HAVE TO SAY, IT WAS AN INCREDIBLY INSPIRING PIECE TO WATCH.
IT'S INCREDIBLE, HEART-WRENCHING.
IT'S REALLY GOT ALL THE EMOTIONS IN IT.
YEA, ABSOLUTELY.
WELL, WE ARE PLEASED TO REPORT THAT CARMEN TARLETON NOW HAS A BOYFRIEND...AND SHE ALSO
HAS A NEW BOOK OUT ABOUT HER LIFE - TITLED "OVERCOME: BURNED, BLINDED AND BLESSED."
THAT'S VERY INSPIRATIONAL.
THANKS AGAIN TO SARAH ZAMAN OF VOA'S URDU SERVICE FOR THAT STORY.