Massachusetts man, 37, whose face was ravaged by a pet dog has incredible transformation after surgery

A man whose face was mauled by a dog has had it reconstructed using bone from his ribs and cartilage from his ear.

Andrew Koplove, 37, was left with a flat face with two small holes where his nose had been after the animal brutally attacked him in 2017.

The Massachusetts medical device engineer said the injuries were so bad he was embarrassed to leave the house — and wore a bandage over his nose as he did so to keep people from staring.

But over four years after the attack, he received 14 operations to gradually reconstruct his nose – and restore his confidence.

Sir. Koplove said: ‘Before my nose reconstruction I lost a lot of myself. People stared or asked me what happened. It was extremely uncomfortable.’

‘(The operations) gave me my life back and the confidence to be myself again, go on dates, meet new people and feel confident in everything I do.’

He added: ‘I didn’t really have any hope at that time of my life before I met (my plastic surgeon).

‘He gave me hope that I would have an excellent result with no lasting noticeable deformities. The team really can make miracles happen.’

Sir. Koplove spent 18 months after the attack in San Francisco, which also damaged his ear, looking for plastic surgeons who could help.

However, many rejected him, warning that the risk of a permanent deformity from a total nasal reconstruction was too high and that there was a high chance of infection.

But doctors at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio eventually agreed to operate and rebuilt his nose in four stages.

In the first stage, they cut a large teardrop-shaped flap of skin from the upper right side of his forehead and inserted a piece of skin taken from the right thigh underneath.

To reconstruct his nose, doctors then cut away the skin covering the space where his old nose had been.

The skin flap was then lowered over this area and had two holes cut into it to form the new nostrils.

Doctors then lifted the flap – to expose the skin from the thigh – with cartilage from the ear and bone from the ribs inserted to form the bony structure of the nose.

The flap was then refitted and contoured to form the shape of a typical nose.

The entire surgical process took about four years and 14 operations.

Initially, when the surgeons removed the cartilage from Mr Koplove’s ear, it became infected and spread to the entire nose.

They had to repeat the whole process a second time to rebuild his nose.

Dr. Patrick Byrne, head and neck surgeon who carried out the operations, said: ‘I have learned over the years to take these early complications very seriously and act quickly when possible.

‘Ultimately we had to complete a second forehead flap to achieve an acceptable result.

He added: ‘Andrew is an inspiration. He weathered adversity and handled setbacks all with consistent grace.’

Sir. Koplove has now moved to Ohio after his surgery and says he’s excited to get back into cycling, kayaking and snowboarding.

Nearly 220,000 rhinoplasty — or operations on the nose — are performed each year in the United States, data show.

Many are performed to help patients improve their breathing or to achieve a more favorable appearance.

In less common cases, doctors also attempt full nasal reconstructions on victims of accidents such as car accidents or dog attacks.

The average cost of a rhinoplasty is $6,324, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, but it will be much lower than a nose reconstruction.