Bryan Burningham is a 19-year-old man -- without a face.
He is not easy to look at, but those who get to know him have discovered there is much more to this young man than a disfigurement, or disability.
News Specialist Ed Yeates has this truly remarkable story.
Scientific researchers say Bryan Burningham is a rare example of what they call the mind-body connection. But theologians call it something else!
He's now serving a mission for the LDS Church.
For a lot of people who know Bryan, what he has been able to accomplish is nothing short of a miracle.
As he walks briskly inside the mission center at Richmond, British Columbia, it's hard to tell anything different about this confident six-foot-four young man from Logan, Utah. That is until you meet him face to face.
Six years ago, 13-year-old Bryan Burningham's life shattered.
In a split-second accident, a hunting rifle blew away his face.
"You could see up into the sinuses above his eyes."
Cheeks, teeth, nose, most of the jaw, a fourth of the tongue - GONE!
The mouth and lips which form words - GONE!
The whole facial architecture that displays a smile, a dimple, a frown, a laugh -- GONE!
Lee Burningham / Bryan's Father: "The first reconstruction where they took pieces of his rib to try and re-establish something they could attach his eyes back to."
Bryan went through 53 operations.
In one week alone, he spent 50 hours in surgery.
Doctors did a lot, but could never give back his face.
When a clerk at a novelty store in downtown Salt Lake saw him for the first time---
Zan Burningham / Bryan's Mother: "You can see the horror in her face. And I'm going, 'Oh no.' And she goes, 'Oh, how hideous. Take off that mask! That's not funny!'"
But while many on the outside turned away, something inside Bryan was turning ON.
Scientists have seen it before - a sort of mind-body connection which transforms in a way they don't fully understand.
"When it happened, he felt this peace come over him, and he felt this love surround him and it changed his life. And he went from a kid who was pretty moody and negative, to this positive boy without a face."
Disfigurement simply was not a part of Bryan's vocabulary. At Sky View High, he joined many clubs, was a class officer, and he had no fear of dating.
Students loved him. He developed a remarkable sense of humor.
The transformation was uncanny!
"He was the positive, bright, sparkly guy with a sense of humor that laughed all day long. He would sing and laugh even when he didn't have much to sing and laugh with."
Bryan: "Life is so wonderful. I mean there are a million things that happen everyday."
Bryan: "You take the good from it. Just enjoy life!"
