Ben Horne, 34, has told British television how his panicked dog bit him violently on the face while he was having an epileptic fit, leaving him disfigured. Five years on, the engineer is “learning to make peace” with the traumatic event.
The life of Ben Horne, a 34-year-old British man, was turned upside down one night in 2019. While he was having an epileptic seizure in his sleep, his panicked dog jumped on him and violently bit him on the face. His nose, lower lip and part of his chin were torn off, as he recounted on the Sky News set on Wednesday, September 11.
Speaking to the British news channel, he said he did not immediately realise the severity of his injuries. “When you come out of a seizure, you are very confused and disoriented… you don’t know your name, where you are or anything. After a while, I started to come to my senses and I noticed there was a lot of blood,” he said.
Dozens of surgical procedures
“I vaguely remember looking in the mirror, it wasn’t a pretty sight. I called an ambulance and that’s when I realised I couldn’t really talk, which I knew wasn’t a good sign,” continues the aeronautical engineer.
Ben Horne was taken in as an emergency and underwent a major ten-hour operation. When he woke up, he was in shock: “I obviously knew the damage was significant, but I didn’t know it was this bad. Your whole life really falls apart. You don’t know what you’re going to do or what’s going to happen.”
Ben Horne will undergo a total of ten surgeries. Several parts of his body are used to reconstruct his face. Skin from his tattooed arm forms the first layer of his new nose, while fat from his stomach is grafted onto his chin.
The dog replaced
Five years later, Ben Horne is “learning to make peace with what happened.” Still wearing breathing tubes in his nose, he says it’s still difficult for him “to be around a lot of people.”
The engineer is now raising money for the plastic surgery team at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital who helped him through his ordeal.
His dog Henry, who he describes as “his best friend”, was handed over to a retired couple after authorities confirmed he was not a danger.
Related News :