When Charlotte Ponce was only three months old, she had to endure a horror that she would be reminded of for the rest of her life whenever she looked in the mirror.
The family had a pet raccoon and when her parents left Charlotte in her crib with a bottle full of milk, the racoon got into her crib and mauled her face. It is believed that the racoon was after the milk.
The attack destroyed her right ear, nose, and part of her lip and cheek.
The tragic event for Charlotte meant that her biological parents lost custody of her and her older brother. They were instead placed with their relatives, Sharon and Tim Ponce, where she got a fresh start.
Suffered depression
But because of the awful event, Charlotte had a hard time socializing and struggles with depression. Thankfully she has made a small group of friends in middle school.
Despite the many operations to reconstruct her face, Charlotte has never complained or cried during these procedures, according to an article in the Daily Mail.
Over the last five years, her pediatric plastic surgeon Dr. Koongkrit Chaiyaste, at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, has been rebuilding Charlotte’s face.
But this latest surgery would be pretty significant for this brave girl because doctors worked to strengthen her ear using tissue from her stomach. Finally she would be able to do something that she’d always wanted to do — get her ears pierced!
Charlotte, who was 14 at the time of this significant procedure, was finally able to wear the 50 pairs of earrings she had been collecting over the years.
During the 90-minute operation doctors also used stomach tissue to give her upper lip and right cheek more fullness.
Want to help others
Charlotte has remained positive throughout and her confidence as grown with each procedure.
“She’s a fighter,” Dr Chaiyasate told the Detroit Free-Press. “She’s never cried. With every surgery, she’s never complained.”
But perhaps the most amazing result of all this is that Charlotte wants to be a biomedical engineer when she’s older so she can make prosthetic devices for people, who are also missing parts of their bodies.
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Best of luck to you Charlotte! Keep your head up beautiful, you have an amazing smile .We wish you all the best luck in the future.
Share to pay tribute to her great courage!
