Girl whose face was ripped apart by a racoon finally gets amazing reconstructive surgery

 A teenage girl who lost half her face when she was savaged by a raccoon as a three-month-old baby has undergone incredible reconstructive surgery.

Charlotte Ponce's nose and ear was completely ripped off in the attack - said to have happened after a droplet of milk fell on her cheek and the raccoon pounced.



Doctors battled to keep her alive but they couldn't save her right ear and nose which was completely ripped off her face.

Charlotte's biological parents soon lost custody of the tot and her great aunt and uncle, Sharon and Tim Ponce, adopted Charlotte and her brother.

Sharon, 57, said:

 "When Charlotte was taken to the hospital they didn't know what to do with her, or how to save her face, so for her to finally have a new ear and nose is a miracle.
"No one is sure why the raccoon attacked, but we assume it was because milk from her bottle had spilt down her face.
"Her birth father grabbed the raccoon and strangled it to death.

After undergoing reconstructive surgery, 14-year-old Charlotte, from Michigan, USA, now has a new nose and right ear - which was constructed from cartilage taken from her rib and grown in her arm.

And most importantly, she is now thriving.

Carters News Agency