Connie Culp (March 26, 1963 – July 29, 2020)[1][2] was the first United States recipient of a partial face transplant, performed at the Cleveland Clinic in December 2008.

This led to her being legally blind, being unable to eat solid foods and having to breathe through a tracheotomy tube in her neck.

[6] The Associated Press reported that Culp was able to breathe on her own and eat solid food following the transplant, adding "Ms. Culp's expressions are still a bit wooden, and she remains almost blind (right eye is prosthetic, left eye is damaged),[7] but she can talk, smile, smell and taste food again, and has learned braille.

Her face is bloated and squarish, and her skin droops in folds that doctors plan to pare away as her circulation improves and her nerves grow, animating new muscles."

[10] Frank Papay, the chair of the Cleveland Clinic's Dermatology and Plastic Surgery Institute who was on Culp's surgical squad, reflected upon her death: "Connie was an incredibly brave, vibrant woman and an inspiration to many.