Turkish doctors performing Turkey's first face transplant surgery

ANTALYA (A.A) - Turkish doctors were operating Saturday on a Turkish man to give him a new face in Turkey's first ever face transplant. The face from a 45 year-old donor, who was identified as Ahmet Kaya, was to be transplanted to a 19 year-old Ugur Acar whose face was almost completely seared by a burning blanket when he was only 40 days old. The surgery began around 3 a.m. in the morning at the Mediterranean University Hospital in Turkey's southern Antalya province and a team of plastic and orthopedic surgeons were expected to finish the procedure in over 24 hours. Also, a separate team of surgeons was set to operate on another patient in what is reported as the world's first double arm and single leg transplant.  The limbs from the same donor were set to be transplanted to 34 year-old Atilla Kavdir, who lost both arms and a leg when he was electrocuted as a child at the age of 11.         The teams of surgeons headed by Prof Dr. Omer Ozkan also performed Turkey's first double arm transplant in September 2010 and the world's first ever womb transplant from a cadaveric donor in August 2011.