- Charlotte Ponce, 14, underwent facial reconstructive surgery on Thursday at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan
- The Spring Lake, Michigan girl has had more than a dozen such surgeries since a raccoon ate part of her face as a three-month-old baby
- Thursday’s surgery was her first as a teenager and her eighth with pediatric plastic surgeon Dr. Koongkrit Chaiyaste
- During the 90-minute Thursday surgery, Dr. Chaiyaste took tissue from Charlotte’s stomach and put it behind her ear to make it more projected
- He also added tissue to her upper lip to give it more fullness, and used a small piece of tissue from her left ear to enlarge one nostril
- Fat from her stomach was also used to make her right cheek fuller and he performed scar revision on her lips
Ashley Collman For Dailymail.com
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Charlotte Ponce (pictured above on June 14) underwent surgery on Thursday to reconstruct her face, which was left disfigured from a raccoon attack as a baby
A 14-year-old girl who was left disfigured when a raccoon ate part of her face as a baby had reconstructive surgery last week which will hopefully give her the chance to wear earrings.
Charlotte Ponce has undergone more than a dozen surgeries since her family’s pet raccoon attacked her as a baby.
It’s believed that the raccoon attacked because it had been attracted to some milk that had spilled on Charlotte’s face from a bottle left propped in her mouth.
Thursday’s surgery was Charlotte’s first as a teenager and her eighth under pediatric plastic surgeon Dr. Koongkirt Chaiyaste.
‘She’s a fighter,’ Chaiyasate told the Detroit Free-Press. ‘She’s never cried. With every surgery, she’s never complained.’
The procedure lasted about 90 minutes, during which Dr. Chaiyaste took tissue from her stomach and put it behind her ear to make it more projected.
He also used stomach tissue to give her upper lip and right cheek more fullness.
He used a small piece of tissue from her left ear to enlarge one nostril, and performed scar revision on her lips.
Ponce’s adopted father Tim kisses her forehead as she prepares to go in for surgery last Thursday
Thursday’s facial reconstructive surgery was her eighth with Dr. Kongkrite Chaiyasate (pictured together above)
During the 90-minute procedure, the doctor made changes to Ponce’s ear, nose, cheek and lips
‘He’s like an artist,’ Charlotte’s great aunt Sharon Ponce said. Sharon and her husband Tim gained adopted Charlotte and her brother after their biological parents lost custody over the raccoon incident.
After her last surgery in 2014, Charlotte was hoping that she would be able to wear earrings. Dr. Chiyaste used a tiny piece of tubing to fashion an earring in her right earlobe but that eventually tore.
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After Thursday’s surgery though, Dr. Chiyaste believes Charlotte will finally be able to pierce her ears. She has about 50 earrings at home waiting to wear.
When Charlotte first became his patient in 2012, Dr. Chaiyaste says she would avoid making eye contact with him. But five years later, he says she’s become more outgoing.
Charlotte’s face was eaten off by a pet raccoon, which was attracted to some milk that had split on her face from a bottle left in her crib at three months old. She is seen left before the attack and right as a child after it
Charlotte is pictured above with her great-aunt Sharon, great-uncle Tim and brother Marshall. Sharon and Tim gained custody of Charlotte and Marshall after their biological parents lost custody of them after the raccoon attack
Dr. Chaiyaste, who won an award in 2014 for his work on Charlotte, says that she could choose to get future procedures but they would likely just be fine-tuning.
Insurance has covered the cost of her surgeries.
Charlotte’s family say she has a hard time socializing and struggles with depression, but has has a small group of friends in middle school.
She hopes to become a biomedical engineer when she grows up so she can make prosthetic devices for people.
Charlotte’s last surgery involved growing tissue on her arm that was then transplanted to make an ear
Dr. Chaiyaste fashioned an earring in Charlotte’s right ear after her last surgery, but it eventually tore. He believes after her surgery on Thursday that she will finally be able to get her ear pierced
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