Pictures Of First Person To Undergo Modern Plastic Surgery Released

The UK newspaper, Daily Telegraph, has recently published a story with pictures of the first man to undergo modern (relatively speaking, of course) facial plastic surgery. The story misidentifies the man, a sailor named Walter Yeo whose face was injured during a battle on board his ship (HMS Warspite) during WWI in 1916, as the first person to undergo plastic surgery. This may be incorrect, as we have evidence that plastic surgery was being performed over 4,000 years ago in ancient India, reconstructing noses and ears by borrowing flaps of skin from the forehead and other parts of the body. There is further evidence that the Greeks and Romans learned of this procedure and adapted it.

In fact, an American, Dr. John Peter Mettauer , beat Sir Harold Gillies, the surgeon who performed the procedure on Walter Yeo, by 90 years when he performed the first cleft palate repair.

I would suggest that the Daily Telegraph restate that this is the first photograph of a person to undergo plastic surgery. Still, it's an interesting story, no?