Andrew Koplove was 37 years old when a dog bit off his nose.
He was left with two holes in the middle of his face. For months, before daring to leave his home in Massachusetts, he covered his face with a bandage just to avoid stares. “I lost a lot of myself”, he said. He sought help, and several renowned surgeons warned him that he would be left with a permanent deformity. He refused to accept it and kept searching until he found Dr. Patrick Byrne of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
What followed were four years and 14 surgeries. Byrne reconstructed his nose with cartilage taken from his own ear and ribs, as well as tissue from his forehead and outer skin. Along the way, there was an infection that put the entire process at risk and forced part of the operation to be repeated. Today, Andrew says he regained not only his face, but his life: he is dating again, meeting people, and feeling like himself.
