A Virginia man who has had to hide his hideously disfigured face behind a mask for the past 15 years after it was shattered in a gun accident can finally go out in daylight again thanks to a groundbreaking 36-hour surgery.

In the world’s most extensive face transplant, which began in the early hours of March 19, Richard Lee Norris got fresh facial tissue from his hairline to his neck, a new upper and lower jaw, teeth and a portion of a tongue, reported MSNBC.com.

Three years after she was viciously mauled by a friend’s pet chimpanzee in a near-fatal attack that left her face hideously disfigured and took both her hands, Charla Nash is still learning to live with her extensive injuries. 

“I wouldn’t mind seeing what I look like,” 58-year-old Nash, who was left blind after the attack, told WABC news.

The 56-year-old Stamford, Connecticut woman disfigured in a February 2009 attack from a neighbor's pet chimp has a new face, which she says “has really given me a life back.”

Charla Nash told The Today Show her life has significantly turned for the best since her 20-hour reconstructive operation at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston this past May, and RadarOnline.com has video of her moving interview.

Nash, who was also blinded in the ghastly attack, said, “I’ve had people tell me I’m beautiful and nobody ever told me I was beautiful before.”

Connie Culp, America’s first face transplant recipient, spoke to Anderson Cooper Thursday about her long road to recovery and why she finally decided, in March, to divorce the man that left her disfigured for life.

After being shot in the face by her husband of 25 years, it took more than 15 surgeries and almost seven years for Connie to finally break free, and she did so only after her daughter asked her: "What kind of example are you setting for me? You'd go back to the man that blew your head off."

Connie paints a heartbreaking tale of abuse and brainwash at the hands of her husband, Thomas Culp, who was convicted of attempted aggravated murder after flying into a jealous rage and shooting Connie in the face, almost killing her and leaving a gaping hole where her features used to be.

For the first time, we’re seeing Charla Nash’s new face -- she’s the woman who was brutally attacked by her friend’s chimpanzee two years ago and lost most of her face, but underwent a revolutionary face transplant three months ago.

“I’m beginning to feel my jaw and chin. And I can move my mouth and smile,” Nash told the Today show. “I still feel weak...but little by little I’m getting stronger.”

The progress and recovery of Nash’s face transplant is remarkable and it took a team of more than 30 surgeons and nurses nearly 20 hours at a hospital in Boston to rebuild her face.