Massachusetts man, 37, whose face was ravaged by a pet dog has incredible ... trends now
A man whose face was ravaged 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 viciously attacked him in 2017.
The medical device engineer, from Massachusetts, said the injuries were so bad that he was embarrassed to leave the house — and wore a bandage over his nose when he did to stop people from staring.
But over four years following the attack he received 14 surgeries to gradually reconstruct his nose — and give him his confidence back.
Mr Koplove said: 'Before my nose reconstruction, I lost a lot of myself. People would stare or ask me what happened. It was extremely uncomfortable.'
Mr Koplove is shown above before surgery (left) and during the procedure (right) he had 14 surgeries in total over four years to rebuild his nose
'[The surgeries] 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 during that time of my life until I met [my plastic surgeon].
'He gave me hope that I would have an excellent result with no lasting noticeable deformities. The team can truly make miracles happen.'
Mr Koplove spent 18 months after the attack in San Francisco, which also damaged his ear, searching for plastic surgeons who could help.
Many turned him down, however, 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, rebuilding his nose in four stages.
In the first stage, they cut a large tear-shaped skin flap out of the top right side of his
