After traumatic dog bite, surgeons rebuild woman's nose
December 12, 2024
Jordan Wilson searched for surgeons who could restore her nose and her confidence. She found them at UT Southwestern.
Jordan Wilson was enjoying a night with family and friends during a Florida vacation in 2022 when, in an instant, her world changed in a way she never could have imagined.
She was sipping wine and having a casual conversation at a friend’s house. One of the host’s two dogs approached. It was calm and familiar – she had petted the animal before. But this time, as the 100-pound-plus dog moved in for what Jordan thought was a friendly lick, it lunged at her. Everything after that was a blur.
The mastiff-type breed (Boerboel) had clamped its powerful jaws across her nose, refusing to let go. The room erupted in shrieks. People rushed to try to help. Jordan barely moved. She was in a state of shock.
“I didn’t really understand what happened because it didn’t even hurt that much at first,” she recalled. “My hands had instinctively gone to my face, but I didn’t have any idea how serious it was. I only realized something was terribly wrong when I looked down at them and noticed they were completely covered in blood.”
Her nose was gone. “Total nasal avulsion” is what doctors would call it.
In Tampa, a plastic surgeon cleaned and closed her wound with a product that simulates skin, but the next steps for the 25-year-old yoga instructor would be much more difficult and uncertain. She traveled the state of Florida, and Miami in particular, in search of a physician who could offer a more permanent solution – one that would restore her nose to the way it was before. If that was even possible.
One doctor after another told her they weren’t sure they could fix the problem. But there was a name that emerged from some of those consultations. A nationally renowned expert in Dallas. He had seen it all in his 25 years in plastic surgery, specializing in facial and nasal reconstruction. So, Jordan found her way to James Thornton, M.D., FACS, Professor of Plastic Surgery at UT Southwestern. And that, she said, changed everything.
“As soon as I talked to him, I knew he was the one for me,” she said. “Not just because he was so highly recommended, but also because of the way he listened to my concerns and how he explained what he planned to do. He seemed to have no doubt that he could do the job.”
Overcoming trauma, avoiding mirrors
Ever since she was a little girl, family members, and even the occasional stranger, would remark on Jordan’s beauty. Those words, “she’s so pretty,” never failed to hit their mark, filling her with confidence. Now, though, she felt the stares, real or imagined, for an entirely different reason.
Jessica May, M.D., Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery at UTSW and Dr. Thornton’s protégé, recalled asking for a few “pre-injury Jordan” photos so the team could envision their end goal and begin planning the complex reconstruction.
“What we saw was just a really beautiful, normal, happy girl,” Dr. May said. “And when she came in person, you saw this traumatized person who could barely look at herself in the mirror. And it was a jarring experience for everyone involved.”
Anticipating months of surgeries, Jordan moved into a house on the outskirts of Dallas and kept to herself. Her trips out were mostly for appointments at UTSW, where Dr. Thornton and his team had developed a detailed reconstruction plan that would restore Jordan’s missing nose and, they hoped, her confidence.
PHOTO GALLERY: Jordan's nasal reconstruction journey.
(Warning: Includes some graphic images.)
“The factors that made Jordan quite different were really her age and the extent of the dog-bite injuries,” said Dr. Thornton, UT Southwestern’s Director of Facial Reconstruction. “Essentially it was a total nasal avulsion, the removal of the entire nose. And what makes the nose so difficult is that it has to be accurate to millimeters, and the tissue has to be a perfect color and texture match.”
The team started by using cartilage from Jordan’s rib cage to re-create the underlying nasal cavity structures. Then they took a triangular-shaped piece of skin from her forehead, flipped it over, and created the new exterior cover of her nose. A tissue expander was placed in Jordan’s forehead during one surgery to get enough usable tissue to make her entire nose.
Dr. Thornton estimates he’s done more than 1,000 forehead flap procedures, but fewer than 30 of those cases were as involved as Jordan’s, which would ultimately take more than a dozen surgeries. “I’ve kind of lost track,” Jordan said with a smile.
Seeing herself again
It wasn’t until after her second surgery that Jordan mustered the strength to look at her reflection in the mirror. It was rough, she said, but slowly she began to visualize the road ahead.
There were moments of doubt, though.
Early in the recovery process, after Jordan had undergone a procedure where a device was inserted beneath the skin of her forehead to stretch the tissue that would be needed for her new nose, it left her with what appeared to be a giant knot on her head and “a Twinkie-shaped” mound where her nosed used to be.
With every procedure, however, Drs. Thornton and May sculpted the new nose to look more natural. Jordan began to feel more optimistic, and she even ventured out of the house and blended in with the crowds.
“When I meet people who didn’t know me before this all happened, they usually have no idea that this isn’t my original nose,” she said. “It’s usually the scar on my forehead they notice, if anything at all.”
In fact, she felt comfortable enough with her progress to postpone the finishing touches to get on with her life. Now married, she and her longtime partner, John, have a toddler and a second baby on the way.
The delays have a silver lining, Dr. Thornton said.
“The more time a patient has to heal between procedures, the better it typically is for the outcome,” he said. “So, we’re glad for the way things have worked out with Jordan. The goal is to give her back her normal life and, while there is work to do, it’s very satisfying to see her be able to be her true self again.”
Added Dr. May: “I think there are a few things that need to be touched up to make her feel a little bit more whole. This is going to be the face that her children grow up with.”
In the coming months, Jordan will return to UT Southwestern to have another skin expander placed beneath her forehead to eliminate the scar there, and the surgeons will hone the shape of her nose, hoping to make it just like the patient remembered before this harrowing incident.
“I’m so happy to have come this far, and I’ll always be grateful to Dr. May and Dr. Thornton. They are really amazing surgeons,” Jordan said. “But I’m excited to take those last few steps and finally put this behind me.”
Jordan Wilson found solace in yoga as she underwent multiple surgeries to reconstruct and repair her nose.
Jordan Wilson suffered a 'total nasal avulsion.'
Jordan Wilson shared photos of herself prior to the dog attack with her surgeons at UT Southwestern.
Jordan Wilson shared her recovery journey with friends on Instagram and said she is eager to help others facing similar situations.
Over the course of many months, UT Southwestern's surgeons reconstructed Jordan's nose from rib cartilage and skin from her forehead.
Jordan Wilson remained positive throughout the many looks her nose took on during the process.
As Jordan Wilson's nose began to take shape she was more willing to venture out of the house.
Jordan Wilson, her husband, John, and their son are ready to welcome another baby to their family.
For more information about facial reconstruction and plastic surgery at UT Southwestern, please call 214-645-8300 or request an appointment online.
