A Spanish man know for now as, 'Oscar' who disfigured his face after accidentally shooting himself five years ago, has appeared before TV cameras as the first person in the world to have a full-face transplant.

Oscar is a farmer who was unable to breathe or eat on his own after the accident, but following a 24-hour full-face transplant carried out by a 30-member medical team led by the Spanish doctor Joan Barret, the man is now able to drink liquids and eat soft foods, and has been able to speak for the past two months. During the 24-hour surgery, doctors lifted an entire face, including jaw, nose, cheekbones, muscles, teeth and eyelids from one person and placed it, mask-like, onto Oscar.

He has now been discharged from hospital and will need between 12 and 18 months of physical therapy. H e is expected to regain up to 90% of his facial functions, said the head of the surgical team, Dr. Joan Pere Barret. He has regained the feeling in most of his face and is partly recovering movement of his muscles.

But this reconstructive surgery was not without some hurdles. Oscar had suffered two acute rejections - once four weeks after the surgery and again between the second and third months. Both times, the new face was saved with medication, a hospital statement said.

His sister, who has not been identified to protect the family's privacy, said her brother looks forward to leading a normal life. He is eager to enjoy "little things, like walking down the street without anyone looking at him, or sitting down for a meal with his family. Doing things that all of us do on a normal day", she said.

The world's first partial face transplant was carried out in France in 2005 on a woman, Isabelle Dioire who was disfigured by her Labrador dog.