Carol Bryan's Journey
Carol Bryan, the founder of Saving Face, is an advocate and public speaker, whose personal experience with aesthetic facial disfigurement has driven her to dedicate her life to helping others who have suffered at the hands of inept doctors and to educate the public in the perils of aesthetic medicine. Carol is sharing her story of overcoming the worst possible adversity to hopefully inspire others to persevere in the face of personal difficulties.
In late 2009, Carol was persuaded that as a preventative aging measure, to have permanent fillers injected in areas of her face. These procedures resulted in her face expanding, contracting, and becoming distorted. Once the initial damage was done, she was no longer able to go out in public. Corrective procedures worsened the damage, until one day, it was so bad she needed to hide her face - not only from the world but also from her family and friends.
After four frightening years of isolation and emotional and physical pain, in 2013, Carol’s daughter finally had enough of the secrecy and brought her back to the world to get help. She and a friend reached out to teaching hospitals all over the country, but only one would take her case. Dr. Reza Jarrahy, Co-director of the UCLA Craniofacial Clinic, of the UCLA Face Transplant Program, and Associate Professor at UCLA, with amazing compassion, assured her that he would help, but advised her that there were unknown risks. Her case was unprecedented…removing the substances in her face through 6 surgeries.
Carol put her faith in Dr. Jarrahy and Board Certified plastic surgeon, Dr. J. Brian Boyd, a Professor of Surgery with the David Geffen School of Medicine at U.C.L.A. and Chief of Plastic Surgery at Harbor-U.C.L.A. Medical Center. With their team of surgeons, they worked miracles, replacing Carol’s forehead with tissue from other parts of her body. Despite all their most careful efforts, however, the initial surgery left her blind in her right eye. With the help of therapy and the support of Face2Face Healing, she was able to find the courage and tenacity to move on in her life and direct her efforts toward helping others in similar circumstances.
Originally from Miami, Florida, Carol now lives in Los Angeles, California with her daughter. Carol’s experience in the modeling and the beauty industry including anti-aging/aesthetic medical practice’s has provided her a platform to help guide the public about the complications, precautions, and resources available in regards to aesthetic and cosmetic procedures.