Charles Woods

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Charles Woods (1921-2004) was an Alabama businessman and broadcaster and aspiring politician. Woods was raised in an orphanage. He enlisted in the Canadian Air Force before joining the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II. He was a decorated pilot with the Air Corps.

Woods had been severely injured in a 1944 airplane crash on December 23. He taxied down a runway in Kurmitola, India, carrying 28,000 pounds of aviation fuel to be delivered in Lulaing, China. After making the trip alone, hundreds of time, on this particular trip, he was flying with a pilot-in-training, Captain Stalmacher, in first seat. Stalmacher erred on take-off, braking too soon causing the plane to lose speed with too little runway left. The bomber exploded on take-off, and he was the only crew member who survived. He suffered severe burns over 70 percent of his body. The fire erased his face, destroying his nose, eyelids, ears and hands. He was transported to Valley Forge General Hospital, a military hospital in Pennsylvania six weeks after the accident. Since he was so weak, he could only travel short legs at one time. 10, 000 mile The trip proved arduous to Woods who arrived at Valley Forge malnourished, dehydrated and suffering from infections in addition to be being severely burned.

Woods, severely burned, was dying and needed new skin. In desperation, skin was taken from a recently dead soldier, with his family's permission, and was draped onto Woods. This "foreign" skin normally would have been rejected by Woods's immune system within 10 to 14 days -- too soon for his own skin to grow back. However, the new skin survived for more than a month, buying Woods just enough time to save his life. This breakthrough led to the development of techniques for organ transplant. He was a patient of Dr. Joseph Murray at Valley Forge General Hospital from 1945-1947. Murray won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1990 for work in organ and cell transplantation. Woods and his case is featured in Dr. Murray's 2001 autobiography, Surgery Of The Soul: Reflections on a Curious Career.

Over the next two years, Woods was operated on 24 times to construct a new face, often with very little anesthesia.

Woods prevailed and began a very successful career in construction and in radio and television stations. He built a multi-million dollar empire in franchises all over the country. He owned WTVY in Dothan, Alabama from its early years until 1995, in addition to other radio and television stations. He ran against George Wallace for governor and lieutenant governor. In Nevada he had a respectable performance in the Democratic primary against Harry Reid in 1992, although Reid won re-election in the primary and the general election. Woods also sought the Democratic nomination for President in 1992 as a long-shot candidate, and in later years ran for U.S. Senate from Alabama. Although never elected to public office, Charles Woods made many important contributions to the voters in Alabama. Despite the intense suffering he underwent, he always said, "I consider myself an ordinary man greatly blessed by God."