‘My rescue dog ATE my FACE while I had seizure on kitchen floor’

A tattoo artist has shared the horrific moment her own beloved rescue dog ripped off part of her face while she suffered a seizure at home.

Karma Davis was attacked by her pitbull, Fayzo, after collapsing in her kitchen.

The 25-year-old – who has a history of grand mal seizures, which causes violent convulsions and loss of consciousness – had forgotten to take her medication that day, which she says likely triggered the episode.

During the seizure two weeks ago (2 March), Fayzo turned on her.

It wasn’t until she came around that she realised what had happened – with her dog “eating” her lips, and part of her cheek and nose during the attack, leaving a gruesome sight.

“I remember grabbing a cupcake in the kitchen and then I started having a seizure,” Karma, from Peoria, Illinois, US, told Need To Know.

A woman's rescue pitbull ripped off her lips, cheek and nose while she had a seizure at home. Karma Davis now faces possible face transplant surgery but says she is glad to be alive. — WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT –
Karma before the attack. (Picture: Jam Press)

“I violently shake and I never remember my seizures as I black out during them and for a little afterwards.

“I woke up and tried to find my phone because I knew I’d had a seizure.

“I didn’t know what happened to my face as I was still out of it from the seizure.

“I ended up finding my iPad and I messaged Trent who was at work.

“He told me to video chat him as he could sense something wasn’t right.

“It was during that video chat we both realised the extent of what had happened.

“I started freaking out.

“I kept saying, ‘Fayzo ate my face. I look like a skeleton. My lips are gone’.”

Karma had rescued the dog from an abusive home four years ago.

Karma’s fiancé, Trenton, 23, who was at work servicing cars an hour away, called an ambulance.

She was rushed to hospital, where surgeons performed emergency procedures to stop the bleeding before placing her in a medically induced coma for two-and-a-half days.

Karma lost both lips, a large portion of her left cheek, and the bottom of her nose.

Her left ear was severely disfigured, while her right ear was partially torn off but later reattached.

She also suffered deep lacerations beneath both eyes.

Karma said: “Fayzo must have just stopped on his own.

“I thought I must have just hit my head and he was laying on his bed, but he was covered in blood.”

Over the following weeks, she underwent multiple surgeries, including reconstructive procedures and a skin graft taken from her leg to cover exposed areas of her face.

Davis remained in hospital for around 10 days and now requires ongoing care, including regular visits to a plastic surgeon and support from home health nurses.

She is currently fed through a G-tube as she can’t eat normally.

Doctors are considering further options, including additional grafts to attempt to reconstruct her lips or a full lower-face transplant, which would require lifelong anti-rejection medication.

Karma said: “My left ear is very disfigured and missing a decent amount of it; most of my left cheek is gone.

“Both of my lips are gone, the bottom of my nose is gone and a small part of my right cheek was pulled back but they were able to reattach for the most part.

“My right ear was partially pulled off but was able to be reattached.

“He barely knocked an artery in my neck, which is how I lost a lot of blood.

“I probably won’t be able to eat normally again.”

Animal control removed Fayzo following the attack and the dog was later euthanised.

Karma said: “I miss him but I definitely wouldn’t want him back.

“Seeing pictures of him in my camera roll is actually a little traumatic still.

“He’d never shown any signs of aggression.

“Fayzo even loved playing gently with baby ducklings.

“It was very out of character.

“But I am handling it pretty well, I think.

“Ever since I woke up from the coma, I’ve been making jokes.

“I tell everyone I’m glad to be alive and making the most out of what I still can do versus the stuff I’m not able to do anymore.

“I’m lucky I can still see out of both eyes, I can hear out of one ear for now but the other one is still packed full of stuff to keep it open while it’s swelling.

“I can smell, I can walk, I can talk, even though it may be a bit hard to understand me.

“Physically, my face doesn’t really hurt very much, surprisingly.

“They have me on so many nerve and pain medications and muscle relaxers, thankfully.

“My thigh, where they took the skin graft from, is where most of my pain is coming from currently.

“I wouldn’t wish that pain on anybody.”

The family now faces significant financial strain, as both Karma and her fiancé are unable to work while she recovers and requires round-the-clock care – they have since launched a GoFundMe page.

The ordeal has also prompted them to move house, as returning to the scene of the attack proved too traumatic.