11-Year-Old Dog Bite Victim Gets Reconstructive Surgery
HOLLYWOOD (CBSMiami) – A Royal Palm Beach girl is making significant progress at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital after she had part of her face bitten off while sleeping at a friend's house.
The attack happened just three days ago, but 11-year-old Jaclyn Turner has been on the mend thanks to a hyperbaric chamber and facial reconstruction surgery.
"I'm pretty proud because she's holding up stronger than me," her father Jack Turner said. "It's pretty hard because I'm a single dad and she lives with me. It's just her and me that lives there and I haven't even been back to work since this happened."
The dog, an English Bulldog and Jack Russell mix, will likely be put down in the coming days. The dog also took out chunks of skin from her left side and left arm.
"She can try to talk with a mumble, but she has other ways. She can text, she can write. So she's got a lot," Jack Turner said.
The doctors performed a special procedure on Jaclyn called an Abbe flab lip switch, according to CBS4's Kara Kostanich.
"We take a portion of the lower lip and use that to reconstruct the upper lip," said Dr. Christopher Brooks.
Jaclyn's lips are currently sewed shut for healing. She will undergo another surgery in three weeks to fully repair her injury.
"They did a good job, better than I thought was going to be done," Jack said. "I think she has a real good chance of looking normal."
