- Three years after ordeal Aesha Mohammadzai has a new face and life
- She was tortured by her Afghan husband when she tried to escape
- But Aesha made it to a US medical base, and was flown to America
- But her facial rebuilding treatment at a Maryland hospital is now complete
- She says: 'I want to tell all women who are suffering abuse to be strong'
By Leon Watson
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A young Afghan woman whose nose and ears were cut off after she fled an abusive marriage has revealed the results of the reconstructive surgery to rebuild her face.
Aesha Mohammadzai became famous across the world after her picture appeared on the cover of Time magazine.
The 19-year-old girl became a symbol of the oppression of women in Afghanistan after fleeing the war-torn country. Three years later and she has a new face and life.
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New face: Aesha Mohammadzai, who became a symbol of the oppression of women in Afghanistan after fleeing the war-torn country, shows off the results of her reconstructive surgery
Aesha's wounds are healing, but she lives with the scars of an ordeal few could imagine
As part of the life-changing treatment, her forehead has ballooned and dark, drooping flesh now covers where her nose once was - before her husband sliced it off.
Doctors placed an inflatable silicone shell under the skin of her forehead and gradually filled it with fluid in order to expand her skin and provide them with extra tissue for her new nose.
They have also taken tissue from her forearm and transplanted it to her face to form the inner lining and lower part of the nose.
Aesha's wounds are healing, but she lives with the scars of an ordeal few could imagine. Speaking for the first time on television to ITV's Daybreak, she told the story behind that photograph.
She said: 'Every day I was abused by my husband and his family. Mentally and physically. Then one day it became unbearable so I ran away.
'They caught me and put me in jail for five months. When I came out the judge sent me back to my husband. That night they took me to the mountains.
Brave Time cover girl Aesha Mohammadzai, pictured with her American family, reveals new nose after reconstructive surgery on ITV's Daybreak show
Smiling: Aesha Mohammadzai looked relaxed and happy on Daybreak speaking with Louisa James
Proud: Aesha Mohammadzai, whose plight was highlighted in Time in 2010, has had reconstructive surgery to her nose
'They tied my hands and my feet. They said my punishment was to cut my nose and ears. And then they started to do it.'
Aesha, who has never attended school or celebrated her birthday, now lives in America. Helped out of Afghanistan by a charity, she now has a new family who care for her as one of their own.
Aesha said she is 'happy' with her new nose and wants her experience to tell a new story, this time one of hope.
She said: 'I want to tell all women who are suffering abuse to be strong. Never give up and don’t lose hope.'
Aesha’s story was first told in August 2010 by Time magazine, who published a harrowing cover photo of her - horrifying people around the world and symbolising the oppression of Afghan women.
When she was 12, her father promised her in marriage to a Taliban fighter to pay a debt.
She was handed over to his family who abused her and forced her to sleep in the stable with the animals.
When Aesha was 12, her father promised her in marriage to a Taliban fighter to pay a debt. She was handed over to his family who abused her and forced her to sleep in the stable with the animals.
The UN estimates that nearly 90 per cent of Afghanistan's women suffer from some sort of domestic abuse.
But when Aesha attempted to flee, she was caught and her nose and ears were hacked off by her husband as punishment. Left for dead in the mountains, she crawled to her grandfather's house.
Facing reality: Aisha's photo was on the front cover of Time Magazine in August 2010
On the mend: Aesha Mohammadzai pictured six months into the reconstructive surgery to her nose
Doctors put a silicone shell under skin in her forehead to expand tissue that was then used to build her new nose
Terrifying: Aesha's nose and ears were sliced off by her abusive husband as she tried to escape their home
'When they cut off my nose and ears, I passed out. In the middle of the night it felt like there was cold water in my nose.
'I opened my eyes and I couldn't even see because of all the blood,' she told CNN reporter Atia Abawi.
Left for dead in the mountains, she crawled to her grandfather's house and her father managed to get her to an American medical facility, where medics cared for her for ten weeks.
Recovery: Bibi Aisha (pictured with a prosthetic nose in Beverly Hills, California, in October 2010) moved to the U.S. after fleeing Afghanistan
AESHA'S NOSE RECONSTRUCTION
In December, Aesha underwent a fourth operation, lasting eight hours, at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Bethesda, Maryland.
Surgeons said the procedure marks the halfway stage in their work and they can complete the reconstruction this year.
During the operation, doctors placed an inflatable silicone shell under the skin of her forehead and gradually filled it with fluid in order to expand her skin and provide them with extra tissue for her new nose.
They have also taken tissue from her forearm and transplanted it to her face to form the inner lining and lower part of the nose.
Previous patients who have had this type of reconstructive surgery have also had tissue transplanted tissue from the forehead - because it is the same tone, unlike other areas of the body.
Louisa James, the Daybreak reporter who interviewed Aesha, said she had now completed the major surgery she required, and she would now undergo a series of minor nose operations to modify it and make it look as normal as possible.
She is then expected to undergo surgery on her ears.
They then transported Aesha to a secret shelter in Kabul and in August 2010, she was flown to the U.S. by the Grossman Burn Foundation to stay with a host family.
She was taken in by a charity in New York called Women for Afghan Women who supported her and helped pay for her eduction.
But Aesha soon became unhappy and her behaviour gave rise to concern. During one outburst during, she threw herself to the floor and slammed her head against the ground, grabbing at her hair and biting her fingers.
Her primary guardian figure at the centre Esther Hyneman, who witnessed the tantrum said no one was able to prevent her from inflicting the injuries and they had to call 911 for help, Ms Hyneman said during the CNN interview.
Nowadays Aesha still prefers watching Bollywood films rather than American TV.
She arrived in Maryland 16 months after she came to the U.S. and had spent time in California and New York.
Aesha was treated at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Bethesda, which was arranged for her by the office of outgoing U.S. Representative Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland.
Couple Mati and Jamila Arsala have been caring for Aesha in Maryland, and they have a 15-year-old daughter in Miena Ahmadzai, who has become good friends with her adopted older sister.
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