Girl Mauled by Raccoon Leaves Hospital With Ear on Arm
Charlotte Ponce, 11, will have the ear transplanted to her head in June.
April 22, 2014— -- An 11-year-old girl who was mauled by a pet raccoon as a baby is back home today after a seven-hour surgery to embed a makeshift ear in her arm.
Charlotte Ponce of Spring Lake, Mich., lost her right ear, nose and part of her lip in the attack.
“The raccoon pretty much ate the right side of her face, all the way back to the ear,” Charlotte’s adoptive mom Sharon Ponce told ABCNews.com. “Now, all she wants is to wear two earrings.”
Read about the raccoon attack and Charlotte’s recovery.
Charlotte left Beaumont Children’s Hospital Monday after a week-long stay with two dangly earrings in her left ear, but not for long. A right ear carefully crafted from her own rib cartilage is growing on her right forearm.
In June, doctors will transplant the makeshift ear to Charlotte’s head in what will be her eighth surgery since 2012.
Read about the surgery to repair Charlotte’s nose.
Charlotte wheeled wagons full of gifts and balloons from the hospital.
“I love the attention,” she told ABC affiliate WXYZ.
ABC News' Susan Donaldson James contributed to this story.