A young girl has completed a long journey of extensive facial
reconstruction surgeries after being mauled by a pet raccoon as an infant.
by John
Tyburski
Copyright © Daily
Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
Never turn
a back on a pet raccoon, especially if left with a baby nearby. It is, after
all, still a wild animal.
This was a
tough lesson for the biological parents of 12-year-old Charlotte Ponce and an
even tougher outcome for Charlotte, who now has an ear where one was taken away
by the raccoon. With her new ear, Charlotte is ready to get on with being a
girl.
“I can
finally wear earrings,” the 12-year-old said from her bed in Beaumont Hospital
in Royal Oak, Michigan.
Charlotte’s
face was severely mauled by the family’s pet raccoon and has underwent two
years of major surgeries since August 2012. She has had her nose rebuilt, her
upper lip repaired, and her right ear replaced. The procedures included skin
grafting on the arm from which her new ear was harvested.
“I kept my
word. I told her we’d give her nose back, lip back and ear back, and so we
did,” Dr. Kongkrit Chaiyasate, Charlotte’s surgeon, told WXYZ-TV.
The
raccoon attack occurred in 2002 when the family lived in Ravenna, Michigan. The
animal was kept as a pet and attacked Charlotte in her crib to, as the family
speculates, get a hold of her bottle. The biological parents were charged with
owning a dangerous animal and were placed on probation. The parents later lost
parental rights in 2005, and Charlotte was adopted by her great-aunt and
great-uncle, Sharon and Tom Ponce. The raccoon was euthanized.
Charlotte
has completed all of her anticipated major surgeries but will undergo some
follow-up procedures to provide more definition to her new ear. She is eager to
get back to doing her favorite activities of soccer, swimming, and gymnastics.
Tim Ponce is protective of his adopted daughter and is a bit worried.
“Dad’s
afraid I’m going to break my neck one of these days while doing gymnastics,”
Charlotte said.
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