A man who lost most of his mouth when he was savaged by a wolf is to have a face transplant 54 years after the attack, newssc.org reported on Wednesday.

Wu Xiuyou, from a village in Guizhou province, was 11 when the animal struck. He was left severely disfigured and can eat only liquid food, and at the age of 65 has never married.

Wu’s plight was reported by local media three years ago, but though he attracted public sympathy no hospital was able to perform a face transplant.

Now, however, doctors from Beijing and the cities of Chengdu and Leshan in Sichuan are teaming up to give him a free operation.

“This operation is really difficult due to the need to use a variety of repair technologies on a single patient,” said Wu’s surgeon, Chen Fei. “The operation is expected to take 10 hours, and 20 physicians from 10 departments will take part.”

The surgery will be carried out at a hospital in Sichuan.

Wu said he was looking forward to being able to eat rice afterwards.