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'I felt it lock around my face': Model fundraising for surgery after being mauled by dog

WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: A model has spoken of her horror after she was mauled by a dog during a camping trip in Western Australia.

Suzel Mackintosh, 23, who lives in London, has spoken of her terrifying ordeal when a Staffordshire-pitbull-cross bit into the left side of her face while camping in Pemberton on December 31, leaving part of her nose “hanging off”.

The model recalls enjoying her day out with peers when her friend’s dog set upon her when she went to retrieve her bag from the car.

“I opened the car door to get my bag and the dog lunged towards me and I felt it lock around my face,” Ms Mackintosh wrote online.

The aspiring model was savagely mauled in a dog attack on New Year’s Eve. Source: Instagram/ Suzel Mackintosh
The aspiring model was savagely mauled in a dog attack on New Year’s Eve. Source: Instagram/ Suzel Mackintosh

“The realisation that it was attacking me started when I heard it’s horrible growl, and then to my horror it began to shake and shake and shake like I was an animal it was trying to kill.

When it let go I fell backwards and my instant reaction was to feel my face, and I could feel the holes and could feel part of my nose was hanging off.”

With the attack over in a matter of seconds, her friends rushed to her aid, wrapping up her wounds before seeking medical treatment. With their remote location, it was nearly two hours before she was seen to by medics.

Her face was stitched up and she was given basic plastic surgery in a bid to reconstruct her face.

Six months on, Ms Mackintosh revealed her life-changing injuries have haunted her ever since.

Her ordeal has left her physically and mentally scarred. Source: Instagram/ Suzel Mackintosh
Her ordeal has left her physically and mentally scarred. Source: Instagram/ Suzel Mackintosh
While initial surgery helped with some of her wounds, she is still unable to lift her upper lip. Source: Instagram/ Suzel Mackintosh
While initial surgery helped with some of her wounds, she is still unable to lift her upper lip. Source: Instagram/ Suzel Mackintosh

“This has changed my life completely. I have to look in the mirror all the time and see scars on my face,” she told Perth Now.

Not only has the attack left her physically scarred, she has been mentally affected and suffers from anxiety from the ordeal.

She says her scars to the left of her mouth have made her look like Batman villain, The Joker, and have left her modelling career in ruins, the publication reported.

Source: Instagram/ Suzel Mackintosh
Source: Instagram/ Suzel Mackintosh

“Modelling was a big dream and one that I was working towards, and now I feel it’s just been completely shattered because of this,” she said.

To add insult to injury, Ms Mackintosh says the dog’s owner failed to show any remorse for the attack.

“He didn’t even really say sorry, he sent me a message saying I feel bad for what’s happened, but please know my dog is not vicious … and then removed me from his Facebook,” she said.

Ms Mackintosh is now fundraising for further surgery in a bid to fix her face. The attack has left her unable to smile properly with her upper lip paralysed.

The attack also left her out of work for three months, and with spiralling medical bills not covered by Medicare, she is in desperate need of financial support.

Ms Mackintosh has so far raised $820 of her $18,000 target via her GoFundMe page.