Beauty pageant contestant suffers massive stroke, undergoes 8 hour surgery to reconstruct face

Young beauty queen Julia Hernandez suffered a massive stroke when a cluster of blood cells burst in her brain causing hemorrhagic stroke. The former beauty queen underwent an eight-hour surgery at UCSF Medical center to reconstruct her paralyzed face. With a beautiful face, infectious personality, and beautiful smile she won numerous pageants. However, the sudden paralytic stroke has left her completely devastated.

The beauty queen received a telling blow when she discovered that a part of her face has also been paralyzed. The stunning lady reveals, "I looked in the mirror and I saw my face for the first time and I was shocked. I felt that my identity was completely gone.” Julia’s family has been her biggest strength during this difficult including her twin sister Sophia and father.

Beauty pageant contestant, stroke victim with disfigured face, is at UCSF undergoing 8 hour surgery to bring nerve and muscle functions back. Her courageous story at 4 and 5 tonight on ABC7news. pic.twitter.com/5CDMgg5BFR

— Vic Lee (@vicleeabc7) May 1, 2018

In spite of her struggles she went back to school and got her college degree during the course of her recovery she realized that beauty was truly only skin deep. "There's so much more beyond that, which makes you a valuable person. I was able to focus on what life really meant," she said. Though Julia had a newfound spirit, her face was still partially paralyzed.

Her twin Sophia, a medical student at UCSF, began doing research. "I was looking at some things that could help with her facial re-animation," Sophia said. The answer she found was right in her own backyard at UCSF. The family got in touch with Dr. Daniel Knott a specialist in facial reanimations.

Julia went into surgery on Tuesday morning for an eight-hour procedure where Dr. Knott and his team would transplant muscle from her thigh to the paralyzed section of her face. It is a delicate complicated surgery which Julia hopes will bring back some simple things she could do once upon a time. "I'm just excited to breathe out of my nostril. I'm excited to sing and smile." The full recovery will take about a year the doctors and medical experts revealed.