Vermont Woman Reveals Face For The First Time After Face Transplant Surgery

Carmen Blandin Tarleton was left blind and disfigured after her husband threw industrial-strength lye on her June 10, 2007. Today, she has a new face, thanks to a face transplant done at the Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Tarleton revealed her new face before the media at a news conference at the hospital. Marinda, daughter of the face donor Cheryl Denelli Righter, was also present at the event.

"I get to feel my mother's skin again, I get to see my mother's freckles, and through you, I get to see my mother live on," Marinda said at the conference, reports The Telegraph. "This is truly a blessing."

Carmen Blandin Tarleton is a 44-year-old mother of two from Thetford, Vermont, and is a registered nurse. She was attacked, beaten up and doused with lye by her ex-husband. About 80 percent of her body was badly affected by the attack.

She then had to undergo 38 surgeries over a three-month period and an additional 17 during the next five years. It was in December 2011 that she was approved for a face transplant surgery, according to a statement from the hospital.

She underwent the face transplant procedure in February 2013. Her donor Righter had suffered a stroke in the same month that year.

"I have been on this incredible journey for the last 6 years, and receiving this wonderful gift, ends this chapter in my life. What a great way to move forward to what is in store for me now," Tarleton said in a statement to the press.

Despite several surgeries to help her see, she is currently legally blind. Carmen has recently published a book about her journey titled, 'Overcome: Burned, Blinded and Blessed'.

"Recovery takes time and patience. Patience is a virtue that needs to be learned. I have learned that we have so much more control over our lives then we know. I am a living example that we have the power and the ability to overcome anything that happens to us," she added.