Pro-skateboarder and model Brooklinn Khoury - who had her top lip ripped off by a Pit Bull in 2020 - has shown off her incredible transformation following hours of surgery.
The 23-year-old sustained the shocking injury in November 2020, when she was visiting family in Arizona.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Brooklinn revealed that she was at her cousin's home when she went to pet their dog, an eight-year-old pitbull named Diesel. "I was like, 'You're such a good boy.' He literally sprung from a sitting position like onto my face," she told the outlet.
"I was standing, and he was sitting - he literally just sprung up. And he was literally, hanging - literally like arms, legs hanging off of my lip. And my first instinct was like, 'Oh my God, get on the ground with him, hold his head, go wherever he goes,'" she stated.
"Finally, I felt a release. And then, something flew and hit the wall," Brooklinn told the publication, adding that she eventually realized it was her lip on the floor.
Her first surgery to improve the appearance of her lip wasn't until one year later, in November 2021. In what was a 20-hour surgery, doctors reportedly removed some skin and an artery from her arm, attaching it to her mouth to act as a new lip in what is known medically as a skin graft.
In a YouTube video, Brooklinn discussed the surgeries at great length, revealing that the first cost roughly $400,000. She revealed that she will have up to five more surgeries to help improve the appearance of her lip, but that she's "excited" about the future.
"Everything went well. The nerve, the tissue, the skin, it's all well, alive, and healing - which is really good and rare. My fingers can move, [there's no] nerve damage, thank God... I'm so grateful to be out [of the hospital], and I'm happy to be healing. I'm trying to be excited for the next couple of stages of the surgeries, I'm just taking it day by day," she said in the video.
Brooklinn also stated that she wanted to be as transparent as possible about her experiences, especially given that it could potentially help others going through similar situations.
"'I know I look different, I know I look crazy right now because of how swollen my face is but no point in hiding. I'm happy to share this, I'm happy to help anyone I can," she explained. "I am not going to hide the process because if someone is watching this video and they're going through the same thing, they're going to be able to relate and they'll be able to feel not alone.
"I feel very passionate about sharing the vulnerable process."
Sadly, given that her accident occurred during the peak of the pandemic, Brooklinn spent large amounts of time in the hospital without her family and girlfriend. Her latest surgeries triggered traumatic memories of those times, she revealed in the video.
"Hospitals kind of give me problems because of the first attack since I was alone, so when I'm in hospitals I just get anxiety. It is unfortunate because I'm going to have a lot of surgeries so I am trying to have a positive view on them in my head, but it's taking a lot of patience," she said.
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