Overview
- Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital confirmed the operation occurred in autumn 2025, withholding the exact date for privacy.
- The recipient, identified as Carme, suffered severe facial necrosis after a bacterial infection from an insect bite and now reports improving speech, eating and sensation.
- Around 100 specialists performed a transplant of composite central-face tissue using microsurgery to reconnect vessels and nerves.
- Because the donor consented before a legally authorised assisted death, teams pre-matched blood type, sex and head size and produced 3D surgical guides.
- Spain’s transplant leadership and its 2021 euthanasia law underpinned the case, with only about 54 face transplants recorded worldwide to date.