In Aug. 2012, Xiaolian, 22, had his life changed dramatically. After a car accident left his nose infected and damaged, there was no hope of him ever looking the same again — that is until doctors in the Fuzhou, Fujian province of China decided to sculpt a new nose for him.

The procedure is called flap prefabrication, which is a newer technique in reconstructive plastic surgery. Surgeons are using the skin and cartilage from Xiaolian ribs and are moving the cartilage up to his forehead while waiting for the blood supply to grow in. After they take both the skin and cartilage from his forehead to do the nasal reconstruction.

Ultimately, they decided that his forehead would be the best location. Now, the young man has an almost full-grown nose on his head, as doctors wait for the process to be complete. Afterward, they will perform the nose transplant.

“Surgeons say that the nose has developed well and that the transplant surgery will be carried out soon,” reports the Daily Mail.

Doctors Will Be Performing The Surgery Soon
Advance technology allows for doctors to grow certain appendages on other parts of the human body. Reuters

Xiaolian is not the first person to have a nose grown on another part of his body. This past year, a British man lost his nose to cancer, leading his physicians to grow him a new one on his arm. According to his doctors, the man should look just as he did before and also retain his sense of smell.

Growing a nose takes approximately three months. With the many advances in plastic surgery, the procedure is often safe, allowing patients to go on living their lives normally.