Brooklinn Khoury was 22 years old when a relative’s pit bull savagely attacked her, ripping off her entire upper lip and the tip of her nose. The model’s harrowing tale, including multiple surgeries costing over $400,000 dollars, attracted attention when she shared her new face.

Khoury was attacked in 2020 and spent months and months vetting surgeons to repair her catastrophic facial injuries. The Daily Mail reported that she said the animal “was shaking her head like a toy” during the attack, which ultimately saw the model lose her entire upper lip and parts of her nose.

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One week after the November 2020 attack, Khoury shared video footage of the immediate aftermath. “Trying to type out what to say has been very difficult. Sometimes we don’t know why things happen to us. I can’t wrap my head around why this is happening to me but I know God has a greater plan, I just can’t see it now,” Khoury wrote in the vlog description.

“On November 3rd I was severely attacked in the face by a pit bull, my whole top lip and edges of my nose are completely ripped off,” she wrote at the time. “It’s crazy how your life can change so dramatically in the split of a second. I’m trying to stay as positive as I can about this whole situation, but I will be honest I am scared about my future, or if I’ll ever be able to smile again or eat normally. This is the beginning of a long journey to recovery.”

A few months later, the California model decided to share what becoming disfigured taught her. “This attack has taught me to truly love myself inside and out regardless of what people have to say,” she said. “It taught me that society puts high standards on beauty, but the reality is that everyone is beautiful in their own way. It has taught [me] patience with the way people have reacted towards my story.”

Khoury went on to explain the most important lesson she had learned about taking life for granted. “It has taught me to love even when I didn’t feel it from others,” she added. “It has shown me how precious life is. I will never take that for granted. Thank you for all your continued support on this journey and don’t forget to hug someone you love today.”

“I’m getting surgery!” Brooklinn Khoury later titled a YouTube video that went viral. “I have really mixed feelings about [the surgery]. I’m excited to get surgery to begin to heal again and work with this doctor,” she said. “I’m also really sad to kind of stop my life again and have to go through the healing process.”

Khoury continued, “I feel like I’m such an active person, so for me to be out for a little bit, it hurts my head mentally. Coming out of the surgery, I am not going to be able to move my mouth at all, so I have to have a feeding tube up my nose. I have to be on a liquid diet. I have to be in the hospital for five days after the surgery. It’s gonna be a lot, so I’m gonna need all the

According to the Daily Mail, Khoury’s surgery reportedly cost $400,000. In the video, Khoury said that the “very complex surgery” involved having her arm cut open in order to remove a main artery to supply blood to the new skin around her mouth. “They have to take a main artery and take the skin, fold it, and put it put it on my mouth,” she described. “The artery needs to supply blood so they’re going to cut a little of my neck and take the artery underneath my skin and connect it to my lip so that I have blood flow for the new skin.”