Fred Saulnier of Penniac, N.B., will never forget the moment in 2017 when his vehicle crashed into a power pole, nor the years of pain that followed.
“I slammed into the telephone pole and my face hit the steering wheel. The airbag didn’t stop me. When the police arrived, they noticed that my face was bleeding and they called an ambulance,” he recalls.
The force of the impact pushed his nose back into his skull.
But he says the time spent healing was nothing compared to what he endured over six years of reconstructive surgeries in Fredericton that he considers failures.
He waited two years for the first one.
“They did a forehead flap, and that was unsuccessful as far as I was concerned, because I still couldn’t breathe,” Saulnier says.
Photos show a swollen fleshy mass in the centre of his face.
“They took it off twice to make it smaller to see if they could get it to work,” he remembers, “then I went back and I woke up with no nostrils, it was just one disaster after another. “
At one point, Saulnier could only breathe through his mouth.
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He didn’t leave his house unless he had to. He was about to give up.
Then, Saulnier searched for help online and found American prosthetics expert and retired Central Intelligence Agency agent Robert Barron.
Master of Disguise
In 2022, Barron welcomed Global News to his Virginia office, Custom Prosthetic Designs Inc., where he creates prosthetics for hundreds of people in need.
“I mastered the technique of making silicone look like skin,” he told Global National’s Jackson Proskow.
His artistry while with the CIA kept operatives safe.
“The disguises had to pass the closest scrutiny, just six to 12 inches,” he explained, “and if they didn’t, their life would be in jeopardy.”
After retirement, Barron didn’t stop. He’s been using his skills to help others for 22 years.
“The agency allowed me to come out from undercover to start my humanitarian work,” Barron said in a recent Zoom interview.
At 82 years old, Barron has changed the lives of domestic violence victims, cancer patients and crash survivors with his hyper-realistic work.
“The people that I’ve helped, when they leave the office, they’ve got a genuine smile on their face. They say, ‘What can I do to just thank you?’”
Barron continues, “I say, ’You’ve already thanked me with that smile on your face.’”
Life-changing work
Saulnier was thrilled when the ex-spy responded to his email.
Barron consulted with Fredericton surgeon Dr. Benjamin Hoyt to have the work from previous surgeries on Saulnier’s face removed.
He spent a week with Barron in Virgina this past July so the ex-spy could mold, craft and fit the 60-year-old’s new prosthetic nose.
“I put that mirror up and he looked and he just couldn’t believe it,” chuckles Barron. “And I said, well, let’s go up to the bigger mirror!”
Now when Saulnier gets ready in the morning, he feels like a new man.
“I got a 100 per cent smile on my face. Every day. It’s great. I can walk into a store with a smile, not worried about who’s looking at me or who’s staring,” he says.
The New Brunswicker is now living his life out of hiding, thanks to a man gifted with a talent for concealment.
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