First Known Surgery by a Plastic Surgeon

The first known person to receive plastic surgery form a plastic surgeon was a British soldier named Walter Yeo. This man received a skin graft to fix his eye structure. This surgery was performed in 1917 by Sir Harold Gillies, and shows a very drastic difference in appearance. Yeo was wounded in the Battle of Jutland, sustaining extreme facial damage resulting in the loss of his lower and upper eyelids. He received a tubed pedicle flap from Sir Harold Gillies, which was a rather new technique at the time. This surgery did not bring him back to his normal appearance, but it did drastically improve his appearance from the damage he received. He later received treatment for a corneal ulcer in 1938.