E! Entertainment/YouTubeA woman who was attacked by a dog as a child has opened up about how her face grew ‘literal pubic hair’ following a skin graft.
Crystal Coombs was just nine years old when a dog ripped a ‘chunk of tissue’ out of her face, leaving her with a wound she has likened to the face of horror villain, Freddy Krueger.
After being rushed to the emergency room, physicians advised her to wait and consult a plastic surgeon who would be able to properly repair the tear in her flesh.
E!/YouTubeSpeaking on transformational surgery show Botched, Crystal said:
[The missing chunk of flesh] was open for a while. Like how the outside of Freddy Krueger’s face looks, with the burn? That’s what the inside looked like.
After visiting a plastic surgeon, Crystal was told she would need a skin graft and that the graft should be taken from her groin area. However, after the surgery it quickly became apparent Crystal was sprouting ‘literal pubic hair’ on her face.
Recounting her ordeal to renowned plastic surgeons Dr. Terry Dubrow and Dr. Paul Nassif, Crystal explained she had had no clue such a thing could happen:
I don’t believe that the doctor mentioned I would grow pubic hair out of my patch. I don’t remember that.
Having lived with the patch since the age of nine, Crystal has spent the majority of her life not worrying about it too much. But as a new mum, she’s now expressed concerns about her six-month-old daughter being teased once she starts school.
Seeking help from Dr. Dubrow and Dr. Nassif, Crystal has requested the facial patch be made ‘as small and minimal as possible’, but the location of the skin graft means this would be a delicate procedure.
Responding to Crystal’s story, Dr. Dubrow remarked on the unusual choice made by the surgeon to take a skin graft with ‘so many facial nerve branches’:
We’re a little amazed that you could have that large of a chunk taken out of an area where there’s so many facial nerve branches. This is expertly done reconstruction work.
[…] Crystal’s case is actually deceptively very complicated. That skin graft is very close to critical anatomic structures like the nose, the cheeks and the eye, that if altered, even a little bit, can change the entire shape of the face, and look very deformed.
E!/YouTubeYou can find out more about Crystal’s story by catching up with the latest season of Botched.
You can watch Botched Monday evenings at 10 p.m. on E!
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.