A man was left without a nose after his ‘best friend’ he’d had since he was a puppy attacked him in his sleep.
Ben Horne, 34, started having night seizures after changing his epilepsy medication in 2019.
His dog Henry, usually a faithful and reliable pet, became spooked when his owner was acting strangely, and ‘panicked’, Ben said.
Aerospace engineer Ben woke up to find the ‘whole house was plastered in blood’, and realised his dog had mauled his face causing damage so bad he needed ten reconstruction surgeries.
When he dialled 999 the night it happened, he was so badly injured he could hardly talk, but managed to convey that he needed an ambulance, and he was taken to hospital.
‘When I came round a nurse said ‘I’m going to hand you a mirror and it’s going to be a big shock,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t quite believe the amount of damage. It was heart-breaking.’
Warning: Graphic images below
His dog ripped off his nose leaving only the septum bone, as well as parts of his mouth, chin, and jaw.
He needed extensive plastic surgery to rebuild his face, using healthy skin from his forearm and forehead to graft on, as well as bones from his ribs.
As his arms were tattooed, it left a patchwork effect which he felt he had to use make-up to conceal.
Ben joked that at least he ‘can say I have a tattooed inside in my nose’, something few people could boast of.
After the incident in November 2019, Ben was rushed to Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, for a 10-hour emergency operation.
‘I remember looking in the mirror and I just wished that I hasn’t managed to call an ambulance,’ he said. ‘I didn’t see how I could live with what happened.’
It was a year and a half before he could start reconstruction surgeries due to delays in the pandemic.
In May 2021 he finally began the process at Southmead hospital in Bristol. He was given more a septum for his nose, but this collapsed after he had to wait five months for the next surgery.
The next time, skin from his left forearm was used to create the inner part of his nose, and in the same operation bone was taken from his ribs along with an artery from his forearm to connect this into his neck.
In September 2022 he had yet another surgery, taking part of the skin from his forehead and folding it down over the top of the tattooed skin to make it less obvious.
Ben had yet another obstacle when his surgeon decided to go private midway through his surgeries, meaning his case had to be reassigned.
Exeter plastics team were able to step in, and completed a surgery in March 2023 where they took more bone from his hip as well as rib cartilage to bolt it onto his forehead, after the previous donor bone got infected.
Ben still needs plastic tubes to help him breathe so the next step is to find a way to remove those without his nose closing up.
He is now finally starting to accept his new appearance but has struggled with stares.
‘It’s very difficult when you see people staring at you for too long,’ he said. ‘I liken it to a dream where you are naked in public. You want to hide but you can’t.’
Henry, the much-loved pet and ‘best friend’ who attacked him, has been rehomed after an assessment and is happy in his new family.
Ben is now fundraising to support Exeter Plastic Surgery and Epilepsy Action. He will be taking part in two Tough Mudders and two 50k races.
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