US war veteran with disfigured face explains how he drinks
Emily Brown
Featured Image Credit: @riseupran/tiktok
An American veteran left with no top lip or nose has explained how he eats and drinks following his injuries.
Randy Adams has gained thousands of followers on social media by promoting self love and posting workout videos, though occasionally he addresses followers' questions about his injuries.
See below how he drinks now he's living with a disfigured face:
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Adams hasn't previously gone into great detail about how he received his injuries, but he has given an insight into his prosthetics journey which involved him getting a prosthetic nose to wear across his face.
The soldier, who also owns Rise Up Clothing, doesn't wear the prosthetic all the time, and showed his natural face to the camera as he responded to viewers' questions about how he drinks with no top lip.
In the video, Adams admitted that eating and drinking is something he prefers to do in private because it can 'be a messy process', but he obliged to his viewers' requests and used a drink to demonstrate how he manages both with and without a straw.
Adams described how, when using a straw, he places it between his tongue and the roof of his mouth in order to create the suction needed to draw the drink up the straw, since he can't do so using his lips.
When he doesn't have a straw, the TikToker demonstrated how he angles the cup towards the right side of his mouth because he doesn't have the 'seal' he needs on the left side to prevent it from dripping out.
"I can't hold fluids or food or anything [on the left side], it would just fall out. And that's why I chew on the [right] side of the mouth, because I've got that coverage," he said.
Drinking isn't the only action Adams has demonstrated for viewers; he's also offered insight to how he swims after losing his nose.
After being asked how he doesn't get water up his nose, the soldier shared a video of himself diving under the water alongside a caption, reading: "I swim good. Water goes up the nose like everyone else. The nasal passages can still be closed off."
Adams has previously admitted on TikTok that he was 'afraid and embarrassed to ever leave [his] hospital room' after he first suffered his injuries, but now he has the confidence to go 'wherever [he] wants'.
In a post shared in December, he wrote: "The last 18 months have been quite the journey toward perfecting my facial prosthetics. A journey I have been so grateful for. This isn’t the end but I love the direction we are headed. I thank God for the wonderful human beings he’s placed around me to make this process happen. There’s not a word to describe but always a feeling of gratitude."