A teenager needed 50 stitches and reconstructive surgery after a horrific attack, which saw her face “ripped off” by a stranger on a bus.
Ella Dowling, 19, boarded her regular bus home when her traveling companion, Darren Taylor, 53, began making inappropriate comments about her and her friends.
As Ella sat up, Taylor grabbed her face and bit her nose and mouth repeatedly during a five-minute ordeal.
The right side of his lip was also split open and he had “visible bite marks” on his nose and mouth.
The teenager was rushed to Cheltenham Hospital before being transferred to Gloucester Hospital for emergency surgery.
Ella Dowling, 19, needed 50 stitches and reconstructive surgery after a horrific attack, which saw her face “ripped off” by a stranger on a bus.
The teenager was rushed to Cheltenham Hospital before being transferred to Gloucester Hospital for emergency surgery.
Cheltenham student left permanently scarred after attack
“The pain I felt when he sunk his teeth into my face is something that will stay with me forever,” Ella says.
‘He was like a dog with a toy; moving the head from side to side.
“I put my hands behind his head because I knew if I didn’t he would rip my lip and nose off completely.”
Since the attack, Ella has undergone a two-and-a-half-hour NHS reconstructive procedure to repair the damage caused to her face.
Doctors say she will be physically scarred for life due to the enormity of her injuries.
“When I saw my face for the first time after the attack, I didn’t recognize my own reflection and couldn’t look at myself in the mirror for months,” she said.
He adds: “People say my scar is healing well, but to me it is more than a scar, it is a disfigurement and a permanent reminder of what happened to me.”
“I smile and talk differently, something I will have to learn to live with for the rest of my life.”
The attack has also had a long-term impact on his mental health.
“I haven’t used the bus since because of my PTSD,” Ella says.
“If I leave the house, I have to talk to my mother or a friend on the phone because I’m afraid of being attacked again.”
Recalling the attack, Dowling says she couldn’t scream because Taylor had “her lip in her mouth.”
‘I noticed it when we got on the bus, it was strange and I kept asking ‘Are you girls out?’ she said.
Even though the trio attempted to end the interaction, Taylor didn’t take the hint and continued to harass the girls. “When we told him to leave us alone, he started calling us ‘white trash’ and that he was a ‘gangster,'” he continued.
“It took my friends a few seconds to realize what I was doing and then they started yelling at him to get off of me.
“The pain was horrible and I could feel his whole body shaking when I looked at my clothes after they were covered in blood.”
She is determined to move on with her life after the attack.
‘I have started university again this year and I am hopeful that I will be able to continue. ‘I refuse to let this define me because I am not a victim, I am a survivor. “I want to go back to being the happy, outgoing person I used to be, but it will take time.”
Doctors say she will be physically scarred for life due to the enormity of her injuries.
Darren Taylor, 53, was sentenced to nine months in jail for the horrific attack.
Attacker Taylor appeared at Gloucester Crown Court in March 2024, where he pleaded guilty to GBH with intent and was sentenced at the same court on July 18.
He was given a prison sentence of six years and nine months and a lifetime restraining order.
Detective Constable Sophie McGough said: “The injuries Taylor caused were some of the worst I have ever seen in my life.”
“His actions that night were horrific and I am glad he will now spend time behind bars.”
