Greek Man Leaves U-M Hospital With New Face

A new life began today for Peter Mikcourlis, the man without a face, who walked out of University Hospital - smiling- with a new face which he got through the generosity of the people of Ann Arbor. Plastic surgeons at University Hospital, who donated their services in reconstructing the Greek immigrant's face, were on hand to bid Mikcourlis adieu. "It's not a movie star's face," said Dr. Grant R. Fairbanks, one of the surgeons. "It's not pretty, but I think it's going to be acceptable." Said Dr. Reed Dingman, head of the Section of Plastic Surgery at the University Medical Center: "It's a long way from being ideal, but Peter can walk down the street now, and people won't stare at Mm." Mikcourlis himself , who now has a job, was buoyant and noticeably more relaxed and less nervous than he was five months ago when The News first reported his plight. He was even sporting his first mustache, which he had grown over a reconstructed upper lip. But he was especially proud of his new "Greek nose." Mikcourlis, saying he liked living in America and planned to stay here, expressed his gratitude to the people of Ann Arbor for their many contributions of money and letters of support, and to the surgeons who donated their time and services. Mikcourlis had been left faceless for almost 35 years by a chilling accident in his infancy. When he was a baby, he was left in his crib outside the family farmhouse in a remote village in Aracadia, Greece. Hogs attacked the crib and che wed off much of his face, including í much of his nose and mouth. When The News carried a story Jan. I 20 reporting that $7,000 was needed for the surgery, hundreds of area residents responded with donations which finally totalled about $15,350. The childhood tragedy had isolated Mikcourlis from almost all human companionship and prevented him from getting a job or getting married. He had stayed alone in his apartment, for the most part, af raid to walk the streets, af raid even to go to church. For a time, said Father Athanagoras Aneste, pastor of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, the young man went to church. "But then he stopped coming. His appearance was so grotesque that he was afraid he would frighten the children." Said another Greek friend: "The Phantom of the Opera looked better." Shy, sensitive, impoverished, speaking n o English and poorly adjusted psychologically, Mikcourlis had gone to several hospitals in Greece and Europe in an effort to have his face reconstructed. But none succeeded. About 18 months ago, -an uncle of Mikcourlis who lives in Detroit brought the young man over to America in the hopes that plastic surgery would give him a new life. But there was no money. The Greek-American community in the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti area rallied to his support and raised $6,000 but that wasn't nearly enough. A delegation from the local Greek community, determined to "resurrect" Mikcourlis, appeared at The News' office last January and appealed for help to raise another $7,000. The News subsequently ran several articles on the plight of the young man, and donations of all sizes began to pour in to the Peter Mikcourlis Fund set up at the Ann Arbor Trust Co. by Thomas L. Dickinson. An additional $9,350 was raised in this fashion. Dr. Dingman, Dr. Fairbanks and several other doctors and nurses donated their services and set about reconstructing Mikcourlis' face. Mikcourlis' case, says Dingman, "was one of the worst I've ever seen." Mikcourlis' case presented a rather unique problem, said Dr. Dingman. Oftentimes, a plastic surgeon will attempt to recónstruct a face as it appeared prior to the accident. But in Mikcourlis' case, the tragedy occurred when he was an infant, and he never had a chance to develop an adult face. "We could only speculate what he looked like bef ore," said Dr. Fairbanks. The other major problem, said Dr. Dingman, was the language barrier. The young man spoke no English, and the doctors had difficulty communicating with him. Now and then people from St. Nicholas would come by to act as interpreters, and in that way, the doctors were able to find out that, most of all, Peter wanted a Greek nose, rather on the large side. Dr. Dingman's staff started by reconstructing the nose. They took a bone from the young man's hip in order to build the bone structure of the nose, and! then they took skin from Mikcourlis forehead and grafted it on the new nose. They replaced the skin taken from the forehead with the skin taken from the neck. To reconstruct nis upper lip, the surgeons transplanted the skin from the skin between the lower lip and the chin to the upper lip. The skin from the chin was then brought together. The mustache now growing on hisi upper lip is actually hair from his chin. All told, U-M surgeons did eight operations over a period of 18 months. Mikcourlis may still require a few touch-ups around the nostrils and the corner of the mouth, says Dr. Dingman, but he no longer needs to be hospitalized. There's still some scar tissue here and there, but Dingman expects it to heal and improve within a year. This morning, Mikcourlis was i ed at "grand rounds" before the surgical staff and medical students at the hospital. Photographs of the progress off the operation were also shown, and photographers took pictures of Mikcourlis. Previously, Mikcourlis would only consent to have his picture taken with his back turned. His friend, William Poulos of Ann Arbor was on hand, and Dr. Dingman asked Poulos if he had noticed any difference in Mikcourlis psychologically since the reconstruction. "He's not so shy anymore, not as nervous as he used to be," said PoulosB "He's been going to church and is meeting people now." ' ' "Is he going back to Greece?" Dr. Dingman asked. [i "He says he likes it here and he'd like to stay," said Poulos. Poulos reported that Mikcourlis is now working for his uncle, who runs a warehouse in Detroit. Mikcourlis now has a profile for the first time in his life. Dr Dingman believes that "his face should allow him to take his place in society, hold a job and lead a normal life." After Mikcourlis had left the room, Dr. Dingman, looking at the series of photos of the young man taken while the operations were in progress, suddenly turned philosophical. "You know," he said, "if the accident hadn't happened, he would have been a very good-looking young man."