Going home: Charlotte Ponce, 12, Michigan was released from the hospital Monday after undergoing a seven-hour surgery to implant cartilage into her arm
The 12-year-old girl who was mauled by a raccoon as a baby is back at home after successfully undergoing surgery to create a new ear.
Charlotte Ponce of Spring Lake, Michigan was just three-months-old in 2002 when her young parents left her at home with the pet and she lost her right ear, nose and part of her lip in an attack. Two years ago, Doctor Kongrit Chaiyasate repaired little Charlotte’s nose and now he’s focusing on giving her a new ear.
Revolutionary surgery: The lung cartilage was molded into the shape of an ear and inserted into Charlotte’s arm during the April 15 surgery
The raccoon pretty much ate the right side of her face, all the way back to the ear,’ Charlotte’s adoptive mom Sharon Ponce told ‘Now, all she wants is to wear two earrings.’ That dream of pierced ears came closer to reality on April 15, when she underwent a seven-hour surgery to embed lung cartilage, shaped into an ear lobe, into her arm where it will continue to grow until June. That’s when Charlotte will go under the knife for hopefully the last time as Dr Chaiyaste attaches the cartilage to her ear.
One last surgery: Little Charlotte will return to the hospital in June for her surgery, which will hopefully be her last. Pictured above on Monday
But this last procedure will be the most complex yet, as it is claimed it has only been performed twice before.
Dr Chaiyasate admitted the procedure is not easy and he will only have one chance to get it right, so he has been practicing on a potato.
Dr Chaiyasate, of Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, ‘As plastic surgeons we need to think outside the box a little bit – what can we do to make a life long reconstruction for her. ‘I’ve been practicing carving potato last weekend using this as a template. It’s not easy.
He said he could not guarantee success, but would try his best.
Charlotte’s adopted mother Sharon Ponce said people from as far as Britain and Australia had contacted the family to tell them what an inspiration the girl has been.
She was just a newborn when her 18-year-old mother and 23-year-old father left her home alone with the pet.
The raccoon was thought to have escaped from its cage after a door was left open when food had been dropped in, and no one was there to save the baby when she was attacked.
Charlotte as a baby with her brother Marshall before she was attacked in late 2002
Her great-aunt Sharon and great-uncle Tim only found out about the attack with horror when they watched that night’s news bulletin.
They gained custody of Charlotte and her brother Marshall, who was then 15 months old, and they and their friends raised more than $10,000 to help pay for her trips in and out of hospital. Sharon had to quit her job at a daycare center to look after Charlotte after doctors said she would need full time care. Although ears have been made out of ribs before, the method of ‘growing’ the ear inside the forearm is extremely rare.
It has to be done because Charlotte’s ear was so badly damaged that the foundations of an ear structure no longer exist inside her head.
Charlotte previously had a prosthetic ear fitted but it was not an ideal solution and soon became infected and uncomfortable.
Yet despite the enormous damage, there is one miracle. Even before the extensive surgery which will grant her a new quality of life, Charlotte’s hearing has been largely unaffected.
Source: the daily mail