Woman has nose bitten off by boyfriend's dog after it was 'startled by her teeth whitening'
Warning: This article graphic contains material which some readers may find distressing.
A woman's nose was bitten off by her boyfriend's dog after he was 'startled by her teeth whitening' device.
Olivia Quast has opened up about the horrific experience, which came as a shock due to how well she'd bonded with the rescue pooch Bentley.
The 30-year-old artist explained that she never liked dogs until she started living with her partner Graeme Stasyshyn's six-year-old pup, who he'd had for four years.
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But when she bent down to feed him last month (3 February), the usually friendly pet lunged at her face and sank his teeth into her nose, ripping it off her face.
He then launched himself at Olivia twice more, leaving her with extensive injuries on her arm before she managed to kick him away.
After finally breaking free, she ran into a bathroom where she rang her parents and they immediately called an ambulance.
Olivia, who suffers with rare connective tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, was rushed to Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, US.
Tragically, Olivia and her 44-year-old partner made the difficult decision to put Bentley to sleep shortly after the incident.
Speaking about the traumatic moment, Olivia said: "I had no idea he was going to lunge at me, it was a total shock.
"We didn't have a poor relationship, the night before he snuggled in my bed [and] I tucked him into all my blankets.
"The only thing that made sense was that this UV light [from the mouth guard] triggered something in his brain.
"He lunged, and he got my nose first, I was in shock and disbelief."
She continued: "I just stared at him. It never dawned on me that he was going to keep attacking me, because why would he?
"I put my hand on my nose and he lunged at my arm twice more.
"I thought, 'I'm not going to play tug of war with a creature whose favourite game is tug of war - with my arm.' So I just let him bite me.
"I was actively going into shock. I was shaky, I was cold, I called my mum.
"[I was saying] 'help me Mum, help me, he took my nose'. It was terrifying.
"I went to the bathroom and I looked in the mirror.
"I stayed standing, but I felt my entire being drop to the floor, the room spun, it's like everything was in hyper focus and spinning and it was pure agony.
"I yelled, and not a panicky yell, like a deep, earthy, guttural scream."
Doctors confirmed that the tip of Olivia's nose, her septum and cartilage had been torn off, but that the bridge of her nose and the outside of her nostrils were still intact.
She has since had a procedure on her arm and is waiting for the wound on her face to heal before undergoing reconstructive surgery, where medics will take cartilage from her ear and skin from her forehead to fix the damage.
She now has two plates, eight screws and two pins in her arm, and fractures that will take up to eight months to heal, as well as significant ligament and nerve damage in her hand that will take up to 12 months to heal.
Olivia finished by saying: "I'm a cat person, this is the only dog I've ever loved.
"I didn't like dogs before, and then I started dating someone who is a dog person, and had one, and this dog changed my life. I now like dogs.
"I'm so grateful that people can help me, [and that] I'm alive."
If you can contribute, you can donate to Olivia's GoFundMe here.
Daisy Phillipson