A California model who once appeared in Vogue has spoken out about the terrifying moment her upper lip was bitten off by a pit bull.
Brooklinn Khoury, 24, said she still doesn’t know what caused the dog to attack her in November 2020.
The model and skater was visiting her cousin in Arizona. At the time, his biggest concern was a pimple on his upper lip that he was cropping out of selfies he sent to his friends.
But that all changed when the pit bull, a dog she had known for years, lunged at her face and squeezed her upper lip with its sharp teeth, holding her down for almost a minute.
Khoury (pictured before the attack) was visiting her family in Arizona when her cousin’s pit bull mauled her without warning and tore off her lip and part of her nose on November 3, 2020.
Khoury’s face changed dramatically after the 100-pound pitbull attacked her.
When the 100-pound dog finally opened its mouth, Khoury said he saw “something fly into the wall and then fall to the ground.”
“I didn’t really realize that was my lip. I couldn’t process that,” Khoury said. C.B.S..
For several minutes, he didn’t realize the extent of his injuries and opened his phone’s selfie camera to confirm that he only had a deep cut.
But instead he discovered that “everything from the nose down was completely torn off.”
The model was rushed to a hospital where she ended up sitting alone for several hours due to the limitations of the coronavirus.
Khoury said he saw “something fly into the wall and then fall to the ground,” when the dog finally let go of his face.
During this time, he desperately searched social media to see if there were other people with his injury, but to no avail.
‘I couldn’t find anyone who didn’t have the edge and was sharing a story or a problem. I don’t want anyone to feel what I felt at that moment, that I was alone and very isolated.
“I picked up my phone and started recording everything.”
He took photographs of his serious injury and documented the hours he spent in the hospital.
Khoury hoped the plastic surgeon would be able to reattach his upper lip, but he soon discovered that was impossible.
Instead, the doctor stitched the wound and the skin inside the mouth was turned outward to seal the wound.
Once the surgery was completed, Khoury was left with no upper lip and widespread scarring. Even when his mouth was closed, his teeth remained visible.
Although her new look was jarring, she decided to share photos of herself on social media in an attempt to share her story.
‘I really wanted to share my story. I felt so alone in the hospital… I needed a community of difference in a perfect world.
He took photographs of his serious injury and documented the hours he spent in the hospital.
Once the surgery was completed, Khoury was left with no upper lip and widespread scarring. Even when his mouth was closed, his teeth remained visible.
‘So I made sure I was super vulnerable and that it was a safe space to post what I wanted to post. I just wanted someone else, if they were going through the same thing, to be able to relate.”
Not wanting to “move his lips” for the rest of his life, Khoury later decided to look for someone who could smile back at him.
She searched for a doctor for over a year until she finally found someone suitable.
The doctor took a piece of skin from his wrist and grafted it to his upper lip in a procedure that cost him a whopping $400,000.
She searched for a doctor for over a year until she finally found someone suitable.
The doctor took a piece of skin from his wrist and grafted it to his upper lip in a procedure that cost him a whopping $400,000.
She described the process as “reduce, shape and create.”
Her doctor described the surgeries as an “art project” because she was “shaping and moving” the piece around her face to “form the skin.”
Brooklinn admitted that the surgery helped her “eating process” and “communication.”
Not only did he begin to heal physically but also emotionally, thanks to the support in his life from his loved ones.
On her Instagram, Khoury has created a safe space where people like her can exchange similar stories about reconstructive surgeries.
The response she received after candidly sharing her journey online “helped her a lot” because she knew “she’s not the only one going through something similar.”
On her Instagram, Khoury has created a safe space where people like her can exchange similar stories about reconstructive surgeries. It’s the kind of community he desperately sought while waiting in the hospital after the attack.
‘I can’t even believe how many people have shared their stories with me. It has been such a beautiful experience. I felt so alone and now I have such a beautiful community of people.
“I felt very alone at first and now I have so many people sharing their stories.”