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Seven years ago a Chattanooga medical team in Peru, accompanied by a film crew, encountered a teenager with a facial deformity so disfiguring she was known as “the girl without a face.” Lisset Cayo and her compelling story were chronicled in the documentary “Faces in the Forest,” which has been shown on The Learning Channel, PBS and worldwide on National Geographic International.
Public interest, spurred by the film and the work of the Chattanooga-based Tennessee Craniofacial Center, led to Lisset’s arrival at Erlanger in 2001 for major facial reconstruction. Accepting her case represented a huge commitment of time and resources from her doctors, as well as a major financial commitment from the Craniofacial Foundation of America – which underwrote medical expenses, food, travel and lodging for both Lisset and her mother, Mercedes.
During her five months in Chattanooga that year, Lisset underwent three major surgeries that laid the groundwork for a prosthetic eye and ear. This April Lisset returned to Erlanger for her final surgery, performed by local craniofacial specialist, Dr. Larry Sargent, which moved her closer to her dream of having a normal appearance. Before returning to Peru on Tuesday (July 19), Lisset unveiled her new facial prosthesis and implanted hearing device at a news conference in Erlanger’s Medical Mall.
 Pictured (in the group shot) are back row, Scott Fiscus with Precision Ocular Prosthetics who made Lisset’s facial prosthesis; Dwayne Smith with the Staughmann Company, which donated both the facial prosthetic devices Lisset took back to Peru; Susie Keith, pediatric audiologist with T. C. Thompson Children’s Hospital Therapy Services, who fitted Lisset with her new hearing device; Lisset Cayo; and Dr. Larry Sargent, with the Plastic Surgery Group and Tennessee Craniofacial Center, who undertook this immensely challenging facial reconstruction.
During the press conference, Dr. Sargent discussed his interest in Lisset’s plight, noting that “when a person has severe facial deformity, it can have a disastrous effect on them, both from a psychological and physical standpoint. By being able to return them to a normal appearance, you give them a second chance; everybody deserves the right to look normal.”
See this related Chattanooga Times Free Press Article.
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