First Face transplant patient has died after 11 years of surgery

 Before the Surgery

After the Surgery

Frenchwoman Isabelle Dinoire had reportedly suffered from two types of cancer following years of taking anti-rejection medication.

Doctors at Amiens University Hospital have only just confirmed that she died in April following a "long illness".

Ms Dinoire was left severely disfigured after being attacked by her pet Labrador in May 2005.

She received a graft including a new nose, chin and lips in a groundbreaking operation carried out by doctors Bernard Devauchelle and Jean-Michel Dubernard later that year.

French newspaper Le Figaro reported that Dinoire's body had started to reject the transplant last year, and that she had "lost part of the use of her lips".

The drugs she had to take to prevent rejection left her susceptible to cancer, the newspaper said.

Ms Dinoire had previously spoken about how the transplant had changed her life.

Just three months after the successful surgery face operation, Ms Dinoire appeared on TV with fully covered on make-ups on her face to cover various scars.

She is said to have admitted feeling better after the surgery.

"Since my operation I have a face, like everyone... I will be able to resume a normal life," she told reporters.

Narrating the incident of the attack, Dinoire said she  fainted after "taking medicines to forget" personal problems.

"When I woke up, I tried to light a cigarette and I couldn't understand why it didn't stay between my lips," she said. "Then I saw the pool of blood and the dog next to me.

"I went to look in the mirror and was horrified."

May her soul RIP.