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Plastic Surgery Disasters & Reconstructive Miracles

Updated on May 9, 2015

Priscilla Presley

Celebrity Plastic Surgery / Reconstructive Surgery

Plastic surgery has become so common place that most everyone in the United States knows someone who has had something done. However, because it has become so common a lot of inexperienced surgeons who have no business performing complicated procedures are running amok on celebrities and the general public. Plastic surgery disasters are extremely common these days.

On the flip side, many people are disfigured every year and plastic surgery performed by qualified surgeons has created miracles for those who would otherwise be limited to a life behind closed doors, or even result in suicide.

Leola Mae Harmon's Story

Dr. Stallings

Why Me, The True Story of Leola Mae Harmon

Restoring Leola Mae Harmon's Beauty

Twenty three year old Air Force Nurse Leola Mae Harmon was on her way to work in 1968 when a drunk driver swerved out of his lane and collided with Leola Mae head on. Leola Mae was five months pregnant at the time.

Leola lost the baby and most of her face. Her devastated husband did not stay around very long after the tragedy, as he could not get used to seeing his wife disfigured. The lower half of her face had smashed into the windshield and then was lodged into the pronged steering wheel literally destroying her face. Leola Mae's airway was blocked by tissue that had become trapped in her windpipe. She was rushed to the hospital that she worked in, and the medical staff was shocked by the disfigured face that had once been the stunning features of Leola Mae Harmon.

She lost most of her teeth, parts of her jawbone and her lips. Dr. James Stallings was a pioneer plastic surgeon who made it his mission to restore Leola Mae Harmon's face. First, he saved her life, and ten he planned never before procedures to reconstruct Leola Mae.

Leola Mae was faced with living with a disfigured face and starting over with plastic surgery.

Several of Leola Mae surgeries were performed for the very first time, including using vaginal tissue to make new lips. Dr. Stallings became a highly respected physician for his innovative procedures. All together Leola Mae Harmon had well over 20 operations, and she married Dr. James Stallings in 1971, and they later divorced in 1976. It was during this year that Leola Mae's story was first printed in a magazine. It was so inspirational that she wrote a book documenting her experiences in 1982. The book became a best seller and a made for TV movie of the same title, Why Me? aired in 1984.

Leola Mae Lived her life to the fullest after regaining her looks and her health because of the skill and dedication of Dr. Stallings and his excellent reconstructive skills.

Dr Stallings went on to pioneer many new procedures in plastic and reconstructive surgery. He was diagnosed with the Epstein-Barr virus, and out of depression for not being able to continue his work, he committed suicide in 1991.

Leola Mae remarried in 1982 and passed away in 1998 of multiple organ failure after contracting a virus.

The Physically Perfect Priscilla

Too Many Injections for Priscilla

Priscilla Presley Too Much Injectables

Priscilla Presley was a stunningly beautiful woman. A natural beauty who had been aging gracefully throughout her forties, and fifties until suddenly her once perfect features appeared distorted and slightly paralyzed.

When Priscilla married Elvis in 1967, she was a beautiful, insecure young woman who was lead to believe that her looks were everything. She spent the years she dated Elvis constantly grooming herself and trying desperately to gain approval from the King of Rock n Roll. She divorced Elvis and attempted to venture out on her own. But no matter what Priscilla did, her looks were so stunning that it was the main focus. She got modeling jobs and parts in major mini series in the 1980s due to her exquisite features.

Priscilla did comedies in the 90s and made every effort to have a well rounded career. Naturally she was having the minor nips and tucks that anyone in her profession begins to invest in as early as their late 20s. The plastic surgery maintenance that Priscilla was on was a success. She truly did not look her age, and was still a knock out.

Suddenly in 2007 she began so look unnatural and distorted that she was appearing in tabloids for her "bad plastic surgery" something that Priscilla had never been known for before. When she made an appearance on Dancing With the Stars, she was on the cover of numerous gossip magazines with stories about her "puppet face" along with many other negative names. No one could understand why Priscilla had gone overboard with procedures when she was so naturally beautiful. But, as many surgeons have said, most of what Priscilla has that does not look good is injectable and can wear off over time. The heavy and over puffed cheeks

Katie Piper before Acid Attack

Katie During Treatments

Katie After Hundreds of Laser Treatments

Acid Attack- Katie Piper's Muslim Boyfriend Threw Acid in Her Face

Katie Piper was a model who was also pursuing a career in media and entertainment. She began dating a Muslim man for a short period of time and began to find herself incompatible with him. When Katie made an effort to break relations from him, he hired another man to approach Katie on the street and throw acid in her face.

After being doused straight in the face with acid, Katie ran into a cafe where patrons called an ambulance.

Katie's ordeal was long and grueling. She had numerous skin grafts and laser treatments to her face. Katie was fortunate to have the best physicians and dermatologists dedicated to restoring her beauty so that she could return to her chosen profession. The skin on her face was removed and replaced with a skin substitute called Matriderm, which built the foundations of her face prior to skin grafts. This was the first Matriderm surgery of its kind to be performed and the results could not have been better. Katie had more than 40 surgeries and finally a stem cell surgery to restore her lost sight in her left eye.

Katie Piper looks absolutely stunning these days. There are signs of her acid attack, but they in no way detract from her appearance.

Her skin actually looks glowing and radiant thanks to the multiple laser skin treatments. The laser treatments stimulate collagen which results in younger looking, and glowing.

Hunter Tylo

Hunter Tylo was an actress in All My Children and The Bold and the Beautiful, and other soaps during the 1980s, and 90s. She was classically beautiful with perfectly balanced features.

Why she had her lips enlarged is beyond me. Her lips were naturally full. I guess all the pressure of other stars having huge lips must make those who have normal features feel out of it. She seems to have followed the lead of other actresses in her belief that lips can't be too big. It has been speculated that she had fat injected into her lips, which would account for the apparent permanent augmentation. Her cheeks are over puffed from possible fat injections too, and her skin is overly smooth. The overall affect is mask-like.

Comparison of Hunter Tylo, Before & After


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    • profile image


      2 years ago

      I saw Priscilla Presley interviewed soon after she appeared in public after her disastrous facial treatments. She did NOT have any of the normal legal substances injected--she admitted it had been something brand new, and as I recall, not approved in the U.S.--and it never was. It turned into something very hard under her skin--very serious. It sounded quite painful and dangerous. She went through many procedures trying to have it removed, but it was very difficult. She wanted to warn people not to take chances with doctors who don't have the best references and with substances that aren't fully tested and approved here in America.

    • Jackie Lynnley profile image

      Jackie Lynnley 

      3 years ago from The Beautiful South

      I really hate to look at Priscilla because she was so beautiful and age I think would not have hurt her so bad but that stark hair has made anything wrong stand out. Wish she could see that; her hair was so much a part of her beauty and now it is like she has lost her mind!


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