Woman who lost jaw in Ukraine war can smile again thanks to doctors in New York
NEW YORK - A woman who lost her jaw after being caught in a crossfire in Ukraine can smile again thanks to transformative surgery in New York.
Anastasiia Polukhanovic, 24, was unable to smile, eat, and was barely able to speak.
Doctors at Northwell Staten Island University Hospital used 3-D technology and bone from her leg to put a smile on her face again.
"Once the war broke out I was in communication with surgeons finding out how can I help," Dr. David Hoffman said. "Found many patients needed surgery."
"When she came to us, there was no chewing. She wasn't able to eat anything. It was hard to speak," Dr. Lydia Lamb said.
"We used bone from the patient's own body and you bring it up to the area you need to reconstruct. You contour it. You basically shape it to be a new mandible, and then you hook it up to blood vessels in the neck," Dr. Michael Blasco said.
"Looking back, I just remember how I would look at myself in the mirror and I would cry," she said through a translator.
"She was at the point where basically the lower half of her face was severely deformed, and she didn't really have - she had no teeth. She had no ability to get teeth at that point, and really poor oral function," Blasco said.
War may have taken her smile, but surgery brought it back.
"She healed beautifully," Lamb said.
Her final surgery will be in March. She's expected to go back home to Ukraine with her family in April.
"I'm unbelievably happy and my family is very grateful to everyone who was involved," Polukhanovic said.
