Father Left with Hole in His Face Kisses Wife for First Time in Decade

katzmeow · #1 ● 09-10-2014, 07:16 PM

A FATHER who suffered years of torment because of a gaping hole in his face has kissed his wife for the first time in TEN years after undergoing major reconstructive surgery.
Donnie Fritts was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 2003 and was forced to make the devastating choice: lose his nose, mouth and cheek - or lose his life.
Given just a two per cent chance of surviving the operation, but desperate to try for his wife Sharon, Mr. Fritts made the astonishing decision to lose his nose in order to remove the cancer, called ameloblastic carcinoma.
After a successful 12-hour operation, the former carpenter woke from the anesthetic to be left with a huge hole in his face.
Now a decade on, the 55-year-old, from Georgia, US, is finally smiling again after undergoing major reconstructive prosthetic treatments to give him back his nose, upper lip and palette, and teeth.
Describing nearly a decade of embarrassment because he looked like a "monster", Mr. Fritts said he can now look forward to going out for meals with his wife.
"If you've ever had a bad dream that is what it is like, except you don't wake up," he said.
"I would chew with my fingers pushing down on my bottom teeth which meant I was too embarrassed to dine out.
"Kids would look at me sometimes, they'd look at me with fear then they'd run back to their mothers. I looked like a monster.
"The X-rays left me frightened I was hideous.
"Now it's incredible, me and Sharon can go out in public and for the first time in years people don't look or point.
"I can take her out to dinner and on dates I no longer feel like I need to be a recluse."
When Mrs. Fritts, 56, married her husband in the summer of 2000 she had no idea his persistent 'tooth ache' would have such a devastating effect on their married life.
After encouraging him to go to the dentist, he was quickly referred to a doctor who wrote off the excruciating pain as a simple sinus infection and prescribed antibiotics.
Despite the increasing pain and his teeth growing looser every day, a further 14 doctors were left stumped, all issuing the father-of-three with the same diagnosis.
But when Mr. Fritts woke in the spring of 2003 and his nose was red raw he was left horrified as it oozed puss and blood.
Speaking about her husband's medical ordeal, Mrs. Fritts said: "He put his fingers inside and a huge lump of bloody flesh popped out and landed in the sink. He was in agony. The smell was horrific - like rotting meat.
"We were both in tears.
"I'd had enough. We were going to demand to see a specialist who would get to the bottom of this."
After receiving the heartbreaking news that surgeons would have to remove his face to combat the cancer - which doctors have only recorded 26 cases of worldwide - Mr. Fritts says he hit "rock bottom".
"I was only 49 but I would never properly kiss my wife again," he said.
"I'd never chew another meal, may not be able to talk, sing, work or even see.
"I wasn't sure if life after surgery would even be worth living. I thought about just letting the cancer kill me."
After the successful operation, the next six years saw Mr. Fritts become a recluse while he underwent a further 35 surgeries to stabilize his face.
And it wasn't until Mrs. Fritts sought the advice of Dr Robert Barron, who specialized in making prosthetic disguises for CIA agents, that her husband was fitted with titanium implants - an upper lip and a new set of teeth, with the help of plastic surgeon Dr Craig DuFresne and oral surgeon Dr David Ross.
For the first time in seven years Mr. Fritts was able to walk down the street or go shopping without looking like a freak.
But just days later he was left hospitalized after the skin rejected the metal implants.
The life-threatening infection was now so close to his brain, Mr. Fritts faced death for the second time and spent two weeks in intensive care and was left with a larger gap in his face.
Mrs. Fritts said: "Hearing bad news doesn't make your heart stop beating. You breathe in and out whether you want to or not. And you just keep living.
"Donnie is an amazing man. He's so funny and has kept his sense of humor throughout all of this. No matter what I will always love him."
Now four years on, Mr. Fritts says he can now look forward to going on dates with his wife following a life-changing procedure to fit a new prosthetic, which allows him to eat with teeth for the first time in a decade.
"I have been looking forward to taking my wife out to dinner. So now we both put our faces on for the first time in a long time and go out on a date," he added.