STROUDSBURG, PA. Teen disfigured in crash receives donated surgery

Insurance would not pay for his surgery because it was considered elective.
STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- A teenager who was disfigured in a hit-and-run crash almost two years ago was thrilled with the surgical results after doctors in Colorado donated their services to restore his face.
"Now kids look at me and aren't scared of me," Shawn Perdon said.
Perdon, 18, and his mother, Carole Perdon, recently returned from a four-week trip to Lone Tree, Colo., for the surgery.
Dr. Randy Robinson removed dozens of screws from Perdon's face, used bone grafts to fill in the dents in his forehead, raised the drooping skin around his left eye, created a new nose, installed cheek implants and made his face symmetrical.
A fatal night
Perdon was 16 when he sneaked out late at night in February 2003 to meet friends. He was hit by a man driving home after spending the evening in a barroom.
In addition to the facial deformities, Perdon was blinded in one eye and partially crippled in one arm. He has also lost his sense of smell.
Perdon is to return to Colorado in June so Dr. Robinson can smooth the skin under his left eye. Dr. Robinson is not only donating his labor; he has even said Perdon can stay at his home when he comes.
Dr. Robinson works with a group called Face the Challenge that funds operations to correct facial deformities on poor children worldwide. Perdon isn't the typical beneficiary of the program, but Carole Perdon begged to have her son approved. She said she couldn't get her insurance company to fund the surgery because the company considered it elective, cosmetic surgery.