A 24-year-old Georgia man has gone viral on Reddit for wiggling his eyebrows. To some, this may seem insignificant. But for Justin Stark, who fell from a three-story balcony last fall and broke every bone in his face, this feat represents a major milestone in his recovery from facial reconstruction surgery.
The Atlanta man was in hospital for two weeks after the fall and had surgery to repair his jaw. He underwent facial reconstruction surgery on Martin Luther King Day in January and has been sharing updates on his recovery on Reddit and his Instagram account @Starks_One.
“During the second [surgery], they did a coronal incision—basically cutting from ear to ear across my scalp—to peel my face off and put my face bones back together,” he said. “I also had to have my mouth wired shut from December to mid-February, which was honestly probably the most torturous part of the ordeal as I could not eat solid foods. [By] the end I had 30 plates, 91 screws, and lost 35 pounds.”
After the second surgery, Starks suffered from facial paralysis, leaving him unable to move his eyebrows and lips or smile. Over the past few months, he has gradually regained control of his features and is continuing to heal.
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