Rhianna Benson
Jacqueline Durand has undergone her 20th life-changing surgery since having her face ripped off by two dogs back in 2021.
The Texas woman had been dog-sitting for a neighbouring family who'd told her their pet boxer and pit bull mix along with a German Shepherd mix would be restrained, but when she got to the house they were roaming free.
Though Jacqueline had been introduced to the animals before as part of a 'meet and greet', on the fateful day she arrived at their home, they suddenly turned on her.
The two dogs dragged her into their home before ripping off her nose, ears, lips and cheeks, leaving her fearing that she was 'going to die'.
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What saved her was an alarm going off because the front door had been left open, with police taking 37 minutes to arrive on the scene and rescue her from the dogs, by which point she'd lost a lot of blood.
Following the gory attack, the dogs were ultimately destroyed and Jacqueline later sued their owners for negligence.
She was forced to undergo several gruelling rounds of reconstructive surgery to replace the skin that had been torn from her body.
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"I didn't ask for this, so I think that it's time to show who I am now and I can't be scared of it," she told CBS when describing her experiences.
"I want for dog owners to know their animals and be able to communicate with their sitters how they are."
Jacqueline has since been sharing her story in the hopes of raising awareness of the dangers dogs can pose to people.
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Despite the attack she said she still wanted to work with dogs because she still loved them, but she couldn't work with pit bulls and German Shepherds as she was still having flashbacks of her horrific experience.
The brave woman - who celebrated her 24th birthday on Christmas Eve - has also posted updates on her journey to recovery with her social media followers since the harrowing incident.
Back in August, Jacqueline revealed that she'd just undergone her 20th reconstructive surgery by sharing a 'before and after' pair of pics.
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"I know everyone wants an update, so here is a current pic and if you swipe over there’s a before pic!" she wrote in the caption.
"Currently I’m still swollen because it is day 3 after surgery, but I wanted to show my progress! I have been sore the last few days but it’s finally subsiding and getting tolerable. #tigerstrong #survivor #20thsurgery."
Following the attack, Jacqueline had faced fears that her boyfriend at the time would leave her due to the extent of her injuries.
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She told him she'd 'changed forever' and asked if he still wanted to be with her but he'd told her he 'wouldn't want to be anywhere else'.
And it looks as though the happy couple are still as in love as ever, after Jacqueline shared a fifth anniversary celebration post alongside him on Instagram at the beginning of December.
"Happy 5th anniversary to my adventure loving, dog snuggling, most caring man," she captioned a photo of the two of them together.
"I cannot believe it’s been HALF a decade with you - words can’t describe how grateful I am to have been by each other’s sides all these years. You are my rock and my safe place.
"You know how to keep me calm when my PTSD gets the best of me and I can’t thank you enough for being so sensitive to my needs.
"This medical life I have to live right now isn’t pretty, but there’s no one else I’d rather have by my side through it all."
Jacqueline went on: "I can’t wait for the next half decade to come - I love you."