She is best known for a commercial in which she holds a pre-crash photo of herself in front of the camera, which she lowers to reveal her disfigured face and says, "This is me, after being hit by a drunk driver." When asked why she appeared in the campaign, Saburido stated "I feel very good to do it because I know people can understand a little more what happened to me – why my life changed completely. Saburido allowed graphic post-crash photographs of herself to be used in the media (posters, television commercials, and internet chain mail) to illustrate a possible outcome of drunk driving. She continued looking into other possibilities for a face transplant in other nations and hospitals. Saburido was among 21 disfigured people who had approached surgeons at a London hospital to carry out Britain's first face transplant operation she was not selected. Regarding the meeting, Stephey later stated that "What sticks out in my mind is, 'Reggie, I don't hate you.' It's really touching someone can look you in the eyes and have that much compassion after all that I have caused". Saburido has stated that Stephey "destroyed my life completely", but forgave him. Saburido and Stephey met for the first time after his trial and conviction in 2001. In June 2001, Stephey was convicted on two counts of intoxicated manslaughter. Saburido subsequently underwent more than 120 reconstructive operations, including cornea transplants to restore her left eye. She lost her hair, ears, nose, lips, left eyelid, and much of her vision. Her fingers had to be amputated, but there was enough bone left on her thumb to construct an opposable thumb. Saburido suffered second and third degree burns to more than 60% of her body, but survived despite her doctor's expectations. Forty-five seconds later, a fire truck arrived and fully extinguished the fire, after which Saburido was airlifted to the burn unit in Galveston. Passing paramedics extinguished the fire and tried to remove people from the car, but the fire reignited before they could rescue Saburido they also lacked suitable equipment to cut her out. The driver and one passenger of the vehicle she was in were killed, with the other passengers injured of the three survivors, Saburido was the only one trapped in the car when it caught fire, and was unable to escape the flames. A short while into the drive, their 1990 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency was hit by a 1996 GMC Yukon driven by Reginald Stephey, who had been drinking beforehand. She and her friends left after a few hours, and accepted a ride home from a classmate. On 19 September 1999, Saburido attended a birthday party near Austin, Texas. Living with her father after her parents divorced, she studied engineering in the hope of taking over the family air conditioning business. The only child of Rosalia and Amadeo Saburido, she lived in Caracas, Venezuela, for all of her childhood. She also unsuccessfully tried to become Britain's first face transplant patient.Įarly life and drunk driving incident After a car crash in 1999, Saburido received burns on 60% of her body she went on to appear in drunk-driving ads and was twice a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Jacqueline Saburido ( Spanish pronunciation: 20 December 1978 – 20 April 2019) was a Venezuelan activist and burn survivor who campaigned against drunk driving.
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