( 4UMF NEWS ) New Photo Of Face Chewing Victim:
Doctors say the homeless Miami man whose face was mostly chewed off by a naked assailant is awake and alert and doing “well”, but in need of more surgery.
Jackson Memorial Hospital released two photos of 65-year-old Ronald Poppo Tuesday afternoon, one showing him walking down a corridor assisted on either side by a hospital worker.
The other gives an updated look at Poppo’s horrific injuries, roughly 3 and a half weeks after the shocking assault on Miami’s MacArthur causeway: one of his eyes is covered by gauze, the other, gouged out in the attack, covered by skin. Poppo’s nose is missing, and his forehead is a mass of scabs.
(Scroll down for graphic photos; or click here for a larger version from CBS Miami)
The lower half of his face, including a mustache, appears intact. Doctors said approximately 50 percent of his face is missing, and that the “charming” Poppo both remembers the attack and understands that he is in hospital.
“We have mental health professionals to help him with the coping, and he’s coping remarkably well,” said plastic surgeon Dr. Wrood Kassira, who along with JMH/University of Miami trauma physician Dr. Nicholas Namias is part of the medical team treating Poppo.
