Woman left with life-changing injuries after losing her nose in horror dog attack
Warning: This article contains graphic images
A 20-year-old woman has been left to recover from horrific injuries after a nightmare dog attack saw her lose her nose.
Trinity Rowles was attacked by her dad's rescue dog, a pitbull and bully cross named Irish, in September last year.
In the shocking and 'out of character' attack, Irish sunk his teeth into Trinity's arms and pulled her around as though playing a game of tug of war, and ripped the end of her nose off.
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"Irish attacked me as I walked away," Trinity recalled. "I fell to the ground and that's when I felt him starting to bite my nose. I was yelling that he was biting my nose.
"My dad put me in the faetal position to try and protect as much as he could, but Irish kept trying to get at me and continued to bite me.
"Then suddenly, like the flick of a switch, Irish just walked away and sat at the porch stairs."
Both Trinity's dad and neighbours came to her aide and called the emergency services.
She continued: "When the police arrived, I remember I was getting put on to a stretcher and heard my dad shout 'just do it' before the sound of gunshots being discharged."
The attack was particularly unexpected as Trinity's dad had had Irish for five years, and the pooch had always been a 'great big teddy bear'.
She recalled: "He was so loveable and really soft. I would always go around and see him, and I even looked after him when my dad was out of town.
"This attack was so out of character for Irish. However, before I left my dad's house on the day of the attack, we had been arguing and it was a heated environment.
"These kinds of breeds are very emotional, and putting them in high conflict and emotional situations isn’t the best for them."
Trinity doesn't remember much of her stay in hospital, but her mum tells her that the doctors were 'literally putting their hands inside my arms because of how extensive the wounds were.'
She was treated for the most pressing injuries over the course of four days, before doctors started focusing on her nose reconstruction.
She said: "I've had four surgeries so far, including a skin graft made from skin from my forehead and scalp, which means the skin of my nose grows hair, and cartilage from my ear as well as donor cartilage too."
Surprisingly, Trinity says the attack has had both a positive and negative impact on her
On the one hand, she's understandably traumatised and doesn't trust dogs anymore, and doesn't sleep well because of the flashbacks she gets.
The attack has also seriously affected her confidence, since it's 'very hard to deal with how [her] face has changed.'
She added: "I am still due to have up to another six more surgeries to help with my recovery. The next will be to help get rid of the scar on her forehead, and we also want to work on my nostrils because they are different sizes."
On the other hand, while Trinity obviously 'never wanted this to happen', she's pushing herself to 'look at the silver linings'.
"Having near-death experience has changed my perspective on life, and I am really grateful to still be here as it could have been a lot worse," she said.
"Although this has been a life-changing and horrendous experience, I am just so glad to still be here."
Ali Condon