An Ohio woman whose husband shot her in the face, shattering her nose, jaw and all of her facial nerve endings, has told an American talk show that she still loves him.
Connie Culp, 47, was the recipient of the first face transplant in the United States in 2008, a process which has involved more than 30 medical procedures to rebuild her damaged skull, ABC News reports.
Thomas Culp shot Connie in the face — tearing away her nose, cheeks, the roof of her mouth and one eye, leaving hundreds of bone fragments and shotgun shrapnel lodged in her face.
He then unsuccessfully attempted suicide and was sent to prison for seven years.
He is due for parole this year.
"I will always [love him,] I mean I have two kids to him," Mrs Culp told ABC's Diane Sawyer.
"But you know what? I cannot be with him anymore."
She is currently in the midst of divorce proceedings and has previously told the press that she forgave her husband.
She is now preparing to return home, after spending two years in the Cleveland clinic recovering from her transplant surgery.
The medical team transplanted 80 percent of the face and underlying anatomy from a cadaver, leaving only her upper eyelids, forehead, lower lip and chin.
She is one of only 12 people in the world to receive a face transplant and doctors now expect her to lead a normal life.
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