Woman who had face torn off by dogs shares surgery update four years after attack

Warning: This article contains graphic images which some readers may find distressing.

In December 2021, Jacqueline Durand was left with life-changing injuries after being bitten ‘hundreds’ of times by two dogs.

The ‘lifelong dog lover’ was caring for the animals as part of her pet-sitting business at the age of 22 while studying at the University of Texas.

While the dogs (a Pit Bull mix and a German Shepherd mix) are thought to have bit her ‘all over her body’ over 800 times, the ‘most severe damage’ was to Jacqueline’s face.

Now, over four years later, she recently had her 31^st surgery and has shared updates on social media, alongside her service dog, Luna Bear.

At the end of last year, Jacqueline said on YouTube that it is ‘crazy’ she has survived the past four years, but is ‘just grateful for being here’.

Jacqueline has had 31 surgeries since the incident in December 2021. (YouTube/CBS Mornings)

‘Nearly killed in dog mauling’

In 2022, a family friend set up a GoFundMe to help Jacqueline, detailing the impact of the attack and surgeries she needed.

“While being mauled, she lost both ears, her nose, her upper lip, her cheeks and lost essentially all jaw muscles along with the capability to chew food. Jacqueline will have a very difficult and long road ahead through surgeries, various therapies, and the everlasting trauma of this attack,” it explained.

Helping to raise money for the expenses Jacqueline faced, it explained she would be getting surgeries including:

• Formation of a new nose

• Multiple procedures to ensure her ability to hear sound

• Replacement of her lost ears with prosthetic ears

• Skin grafting of the interior of her face

• Installation of lower eyelids to ensure that her vision and eyes can function properly

• Reconstruction of upper lip

Back in January of this year, Jacqueline explained on Instagram that surgeons had taken 'a tendon from her leg and put it in her face to suspend her bottom lip'.

She said in March this year that 'slow and steady wins the race'. (jacqueline_claire99/Instagram)

Recent updates from Jacqueline

Following her 31^st surgery in March, she said that after a week she was ‘sore but thankful’.

“Some hair bearing skin on my nose was taken off and my bottom lip was suspended a bit again. Last time it looked like a good position until the swelling went down then we realized it needs some help still. It's getting there! It'll be a while but improvement is there,” she wrote.

However, she unfortunately had to go for a scheduled outpatient procedure due to incisions not healing properly.

She says that while it's taking a while, 'improvement is there'. (jacqueline_claire99/Instagram)

“I'm tired of this and I just want to breathe. When things like this come up it gets upsetting and overwhelming,” she wrote as she hoped the issues wouldn’t turn into an infection.

And, thankfully, she wrote at the end of the March that the ‘clean-up’ procedure went well and she had her dog by her side, writing of her service animal: could not have a better four-legged nurse at my side than Luna Bear.”

Jacqueline shared in an update: “My surgeons did clean up the incisions but also replaced the artificial skin with some new artificial skin to keep it all safer and cleaner.”