Tajikstan Man Disfigured By Severe Burns Has Skin Graft After Appearing On TV Show

A man who lived as a hermit after suffering severe burns as a baby says he is no longer afraid to speak to his family and friends after having a face transplant.

Dilmrod, 20, from Tajikistan, was inundated with offers of help after telling his story on a Russian reality TV show in the south-western city of Krasnodar Krai.

Now, after undergoing a 13-hour procedure that saw a 11 by 12 inch piece of skin transferred from his stomach, he wants to return home and get married.

Dilmrod said he was very happy with the results and that he no longer shies away from Skype calls with his family and friends back home in Tajikistan.

Sergey Bogdanov, the surgeon who treated Dilmrod said he opted for an 'out-of-the-box' solution to give the procedure the best chance of success.

He said: 'We could have done a typical procedure whereby every scar was covered with a piece of skin, but we opted for a difficult, 'out-of-the-box' decision.'

Mr Bogdanov and his team used the large, single piece of skin from Dilmrod's stomach and covered his entire face in the transplant surgery.

After the successful procedure, doctors said they were very optimistic that Dilmrod would see significant improvements to his quality of life.

They also added that the probability of post-surgery complications was minimal as the transplant was done using the patient's own skin.