American model whose lip was torn off in pit bull attack ‘blessed’ after surgery

Brooklinn Khoury (23) from Mission Viejo, California has undergone numerous surgeries since her cousin's pit bull attacked her without warning and tore off her lip and part of her nose in November 2020.

Brooklinn, who has been documenting her recovery on social media, revealed last month in her most recent update how her surgeon was able to reconstruct her central columns, lip, and cupid's bow.

She took to Instagram on Saturday to post a photo of her doctor tracing her lip with a blue marker at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. She also included a snapshot of her side profile as she smiled.

“Almost three weeks post-op! Everything is healing so well. Still pretty swollen but so blessed with the results!' she captioned the images, which have received tens of thousands of likes.

She shared more pictures of herself a few days later, showing off her new smile, while revealing on her Instagram Stories that all of her stitches were out.

In her latest set of images, the professional skateboarder’s lip appears to be almost completely healed

Khoury, who had met the eight-year-old dog named Diesel on numerous previous occasions, was visiting her family in Arizona and standing in the kitchen when the horrific incident unfolded.

“I was like, ‘You're such a good boy’,” she told People in 2021. “He literally sprung from a sitting position like onto my face. I was standing, and he was sitting — he literally just sprung up.

“And he was literally, hanging — literally like arms, legs hanging off of my lip. And my first instinct was like, ‘Oh my God, get on the ground with him, hold his head, go wherever he goes’.”

When the pit bull finally let go, “something flew and hit the wall”.

Recalling that there was “blood everywhere” she then saw a pink lump on the floor and realised it was her lip.

She rushed to the emergency room with the chunk of her lip but surgeons were unable to reattach it.

Three days after she was mauled, she started documenting her recovery on Instagram, on November 6, 2020, when she posted a photo of herself cuddling a teddy bear in the hospital.

In November 2021, she had her first reconstructive surgery, a 20-hour procedure that reportedly cost $400,000. Her surgeon created a skin graft from her forearm to replace the skin on her upper lip.

Khoury opened up about her first surgery in a video shared on her YouTube channel, saying it was a success.

“It’s crazy how your life can change so dramatically in the split of a second,” she wrote.

“Everything went well. The nerve, the tissue, the skin, is all well, alive, and healing, which is really good and really rare,” she explained. "My fingers can move, [there's no] nerve damage... so thank God.”

Although some people advised her not to post any videos or photos of her face because of “the way that it looks”, she wanted to be open about the process so others who are in similar situations would feel less alone.

“I know I look different. I know I look crazy right now because of how swollen my face is but no point in hiding,” she said. “I'm happy to share this. I'm happy to help anyone that I can.”

Khoury, who was isolated from her family and friends during her initial hospitalisation because of the Covid-19 pandemic, admitted that being in the hospital was difficult for her because it brought back traumatic memories from the attack.

“'Hospitals kind of give me problems because of the first attack, because I was alone,” she said. “So when I'm in hospital I just get anxiety, which is unfortunate because I'm going to have a lot of surgeries. So I am trying to have a positive view on them in my head, but it's taking a lot of patience.”

In February 2022, Khoury filmed a video with her girlfriend, the former Dance Moms star Chloe Lukasiak, who recalled the heart-breaking moment she learned about the pit bull attack.

Lukasiak who had only been talking to her for five days when Khoury was attacked, insisted that she never saw her any differently and never once considered leaving her.

“What makes me mad about this society is that some people have expressed surprise and praised me for not leaving her because of that and it just makes me angry,” the reality star said.

“I understand that's what we're taught to think and feel, but it just makes me upset because if you spend five minutes with Brooklinn you'd understand how incredible of a human being she is.

Khoury has now revealed in a new YouTube vlog that she is “obsessed” with the way her doctor shaped her upper lip.

The model included post-surgery pictures, writing, “I'm very swollen right now, but once the swelling goes down it will look amazing. Thank God.”

Two days after the procedure, she posted a video of herself getting her quilting sutures out and was happy to report that the blood flow was “still strong”.

“I was kind of worried about that because I had been going through surgeries the last year. I didn't want to end up with something I wasn't going to love,” she admitted.

“I absolutely love my upper lip. I think it matches my bottom lip perfectly. I cannot believe that I am looking like this,” she added. “I think if you were to tell me a year ago I would look how I look today, I wouldn't believe you. This is insane."