© 2021
In touch with the world ... at home on the High Plains
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
KJJP-FM 105.7 is currently operating at very reduced power and signal range using a back-up transmitter. This is because of complicated problems with its very old primary transmitter. Local engineers are currently working on that transmitter and consulting with the manufacturer to diagnose and fix the problems. We apologize for this disruption and service as we work as quickly as possible to restore KJPFM to full power. In the mean time you can always stream either the HPPR mix service or HPPR connect service using the player above or the HPPR app.

Falling In Love Again: Face-Transplant Donor's Daughter Meets Recipient

By Eyder Peralta
Published May 3, 2013 at 3:06 PM CDT
Carmen Blandin Tarleton of Thetford, Vermont, right, is embraced by Marinda Righter, daughter of face donor Cheryl Denelli-Righter, at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Mass., on Wednesday.
Charles Krupa
/
AP
Carmen Blandin Tarleton of Thetford, Vermont, right, is embraced by Marinda Righter, daughter of face donor Cheryl Denelli-Righter, at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Mass., on Wednesday.

If there's one conversation you listen to today, make it Melissa Block's talk with Carmen Blandin Tarleton and Marinda Righter.

Tarleton, who was disfigured when her estranged husband poured Lye over her body, received a face transplant in February. This week, for the first time, Tarleton met Righter, the daughter of the face donor.

Righter and Tarleton embraced and then Righter asked Tarleton if she could touch her face.

"It was probably one of the best feelings I've had in my life," Tarleton told Melissa.

"It was like falling in love all over again," Righter said.

We'll leave you with an excerpt of their conversation:

The rest of Melissa's interview will air on All Things Considered tonight. Click here to find your local NPR member station. We'll post the as-aired interview on this post, a little later tonight.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta
Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.
See stories by Eyder Peralta