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IN PHOTO: Richard Norris is seen following his face transplant operation in this undated handout photo courtesy of the University of Maryland Medical Center. Surgeons from the University of Maryland Medical Center on Tuesday detailed what they said was the world's most comprehensive face transplant, allowing a 37-year-old Virginia man to emerge from behind a mask 15 years after a gun accident that almost took his life. Norris of Hillsville, Virginia, was shot in the face in 1997 and lost his nose, lips and most movement in his mouth. Since that time, he has had multiple life-saving and reconstructive surgeries but none could repair him to the extent where he felt he could return to society. He wore a prosthetic nose and a mask even when entering hospital for the transplant. Reuters/University of Maryland Medical Center/Handout

Richard Norris, the face transplant patient from Hillsville, Virginia finally meets his face donor's sister Rebekah Aversano. Norris and Aversano's meeting will be aired on Channel 9's 60 Minutes on Sunday. Read on to learn more about it.

Norris underwent an extensive facial transplant surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center's R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center from March 19-20, 2012. It was done to repair his face which was badly damaged from an accidental gunshot wound in 1997. Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, a reconstructive facial surgeon from Maryland and his team operated on Norris for 36 hours.

Rebekah Aversano, whose brother Joshua was killed in a 2012 traffic accident, was Richard Norris' face donor. Rebekah has been given the chance to see his 21-year-old brother's face in another man's body when she met up recently with Norris. Not only was she able to see Norris's new face, but she was able to touch it as well. This special moment in Norris and Aversano's life was documented by the 60 Minutes show on Channel 9.

"This is the face I grew up with," Rebekah says to Norris as she touched his face in the 60 Minutes preview video.

CTV News reports that Gwen Aversano, Joshua and Rebekah's mom, said that deciding whether or not to donate Joshua's face to another person was a difficult thing to do. But it would have been what her son wanted. Gwen also spoke about meeting Norris.

"After meeting Mr. Norris, seeing him and speaking to him we can definitely see our son in him," Gwen said in the CTV News report.

"We were just so pleased we were able to help Mr. Norris even though we had such a tragic loss," she added.

BBC reports that James Partridge, founder of the charity Changing Faces and Barry Jones, the former president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, both commented on the meeting between the Aversanos and Richard Norris.

Partridge said that he wasn't familiar with any other case wherein a person who received a transplant met up with the family of the donor. Normally, families of the donors don't usually meet up with the recipients of the transplants.

Meanwhile, Jones said that the situation between the two parties is understandably difficult, but he was glad that it had a happy outcome. He also hoped that both Norris and the Aversanos were counselled before they met up with each other.

Before undergoing the face transplant, Norris was a recluse who used to hide his face from people for fear of being stared at, pitied or worse, made fun of. Thanks to the revolutionary and successful procedure, he doesn't have to stay hidden anymore. He even made the cover of GQ magazine in 2014.

For feedback/comments on this article, you may email j.somosot@ibtimes.com.au.

Watch The Face transplant Patient Meets Donor's Sister Video:

CREDIT: YouTube/BBC News

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