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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/transplant-restores-womans-voice.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Brenda Jensen smiles as she answers a question about her transplanted larynx" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/min-transplant-restores-womans-voice.jpg" alt="Brenda Jensen smiles as she answers a question about her transplanted larynx"/></a></p>
<p>A woman who has not uttered a word for more than a decade has had her speech restored thanks to a pioneering transplant.</p>
<p>Brenda Jensen was unable to speak or breathe on her own before the operation &#8211; only the second time a voicebox transplant has been performed worldwide.</p>
<p>UK surgeon Martin Birchall, professor of laryngology at University College London, was part of the team which gave Ms Jensen back the gift of speech.</p>
<p>She described the operation as a &#8220;miracle&#8221; and a &#8220;new beginning&#8221;, adding: &#8220;This operation has restored my life.&#8221;</p>
<p>On Thursday she met the full international surgical team who performed the transplant, carried out at the University of California&#8217;s Davis Medical Centre.</p>
<p>Ms Jensen, 52, had not spoken for 11 years after complications during surgery for kidney failure in 1999 harmed her voicebox and left her unable to breathe.</p>
<p>She was dependent on a tracheotomy tube for breathing and was only able to communicate through a handheld electronic device which produced artificial robot-like sounds. In an 18-hour operation in October, surgeons replaced her larynx (voicebox), thyroid gland and trachea (windpipe), restoring not only her speech but the ability to taste and smell.</p>
<p>Just 13 days after the operation, Ms Jensen, from Modesto, California, spoke to doctors and her family. She said: &#8220;I feel so blessed to have been given this opportunity. It is a miracle. I&#8217;m talking, talking, talking, which just amazes my family and friends.</p>
<p>&#8220;Every day is a new beginning for me. I&#8217;m working so hard to use my vocal cords and train my muscles to swallow. I&#8217;ll probably never sing in a choir or anything but it&#8217;s exciting to talk normally, and I can&#8217;t wait to eat, drink and swim again.&#8221;</p>
<p>The only other known larynx transplant took place at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio in 1998.</p>
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