2019-11-04_Time

64 Time November 4, 2019

RobeRT Chelsea TuRned down The fiRsT

face he was offered. It was a fine face, one that

could have taken him off the transplant waiting

list after just a couple months. But Chelsea—

severely disfigured after a catastrophic car

accident five years earlier—was in no hurry.

He’d gotten used to tilting his head back so

food and water wouldn’t fall out of his nearly

lipless mouth. He knew how to respond com-

passionately to children who stared in shock

and fear. The face, offered in May 2018, had

belonged to a man with skin that was much

fairer than what remained of Chelsea’s—so

light that Chelsea, who is African American,

couldn’t bear the thought of becoming “a to-

tally different- looking person.”

Chelsea’s doctors understood his hesitance.

Face transplants in general are rare. Since the

first partial one was performed in France in

2005, fewer than 50 have been completed

worldwide. A new patient joining the ranks

is always noteworthy, but Chelsea’s case car-

ries even more weight than usual. Because he

is the first African American to receive a full

face transplant, Chelsea’s treatment is expected

to have ripple effects that transcend his case.

Disparities in the medical system that cause

black Americans to die at higher rates than

whites of so many things—like heart disease,

cancer diabetes and HIV/AIDS—have also pro-

duced gaps in organ donation and transplanta-

tion. Widespread mistrust of the medical sys-

tem has made many African Americans wary of

tissue donation, contributing to donor short-

ages; in turn, only 17% of black patients await-

ing an organ transplant got one in 2015, com-

pared with about 30% of white patients.

Chelsea’s accidental role as the literal and

figurative face of black organ transplantation

is likely to help chip away at those disparities.

“Having a visible, tangible reference, especially

for African Americans... is so needed,” says

Marion Shuck, president of the Association

for Multicultural Affairs in Transplantation

(AMAT). Sharing personal experiences pub-

licly, Shuck says, could inspire potential donors

with a clear example of a transplant’s positive

impact. Though facial donation is rare, Chel-

sea’s story could encourage black Americans,

and their families, to donate kidneys, livers

or lungs, saving lives and reducing wait times

across the country.

It took more than a year for Chelsea to get a

second call—the one that would land him in a

bed at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospi-

tal, receiving a new face that was a near perfect

February 2019

Robert Chelsea shops

for groceries at a local

market near a friend’s

apartment where

he was temporarily

staying in Los Angeles

July 2019

“I’m more excited than

nervous,” Chelsea says

on the day of his face-

transplant surgery at

Brigham and Women’s

Hospital in Boston

October 2019

Chelsea consults with

Dr. Bohdan Pomahac,

the lead surgeon

who performed his

transplant, at Brigham

and Women’s

February 2019 July 2019

HEALTH CARE • ACCESS