'Rampaging dog BIT MY LIPS OFF after I tried to pet it while I was out on a date'

A woman's dinner date ended in horror when she petted a stranger'soutside the- and it tore off her lip.

Connie Wanberg was enjoying a day out with her partner Joel Marty, 63, when they decided to stop at a restaurant for a bite to eat on August 18. While Joel went inside to get a table, Connie began chatting to two women and asked to pet their chocolate labrador retriever and was told she could. But as the 58-year-old lover reached out to pet the pooch, she claims the canine jumped up and , ripping off the majority of her bottom lip.

When she saw blood pouring on the floor, Connie says her body went into shock and someone called 911. Her lip was later found 'chewed up' on the floor after the unprovoked attack.

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The mum-of-two was then rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minnesota, where she underwent a four-hour emergency trauma surgery to stitch up her face. Horrifying photos show a large hole in Connie's face exposing her top set of teeth as a surgeon cut out a piece of her upper lip to stitch onto her 'missing' bottom lip to reconstruct it.

Following the attack, Connie says she had a panic attack in public when faced with a dog and will no longer pet them in the street. She is now sharing her story to document her healing process and highlight what she's been through.

Connie, from Minneapolis in Minnesota, said: "My partner and I had rode our bikes to a restaurant. I parked my bike and my partner went inside to get a table. To the left of the restaurant there was a coffee shop with a patio. Two women were sitting there with their two and I said hello and asked to pet their dogs.

"She said yes and as I reached to pet the dog it jumped up and bit me on the mouth. It took a huge hole out of the side of my face, it took 75% of my bottom lip. I was bleeding quite extensively. There was blood all over the patio and on my shoes.

"The dog just jumped so high and it was one huge bite. Later they found my lip on the patio and it was all chewed up and was impossible to recover. I had a complex left cheek laceration, my left jaw was exposed and the muscles around the left side of my mouth were just gone.

"Initially, I didn't feel pain, my body went into shock from the adrenaline. At the time, I felt bad for the owner and the dog as I'm such a dog lover."

Connie, who has a six-year-old pitbull rescue called Winnie, underwent a second 'rare' operation a few weeks later called an Estlander flap procedure to create a 'new' bottom lip. Following this surgery she was placed on a liquid diet for weeks and had to relearn how to talk through the side of her mouth - after her smile was permanently altered.

Connie said: "I have been on medical leave from work this whole year because I couldn't speak and hope to teach again in the fall. The second surgery was called an Estlander flap procedure. This is very rare and only happens usually to people with a gunshot wound, lip cancer or an automobile accident.

"Lip tissue is very precious and the bottom lip is even more precious. They had to take part of my upper lip and create a bottom lip. I was stuttering and slurring right after that surgery and I couldn't open my mouth for several weeks and had to be on a liquid diet."

Seven months on from the attack, Connie is still attending regular therapy sessions to help with her speech and Bell's palsy she developed due to her injuries. Fearful of dogs that aren't her own, Connie faces an anxious wait to see if she needs a third surgery for further reconstruction.

Connie said: "The trauma scar from the dog is really thick and so the therapy is trying to help break this down to help with my speech. In addition to speech therapy, I got diagnosed with Bell's palsy due to all the muscle damage in my face.

"I've been pretty balanced about my reactions to the accident throughout but I have had lows. At first I was really self-conscious when I started going out in public. Sometimes it's hard to be myself. My voice is a little different to what it was before the accident.

"I now have to talk out of the side of my mouth and sometimes I don't talk loads and it makes you more withdrawn as it's so much more work. I now have microstomia, an abnormally small mouth, which makes it hard to breathe.

"When I do go out I put in a little bit more effort to get dressed to look nice so I can compensate for my face. There was one incident recently where a dog was off the leash near me.

"When it approached me the owners put it back on the leash but their dog lunged at my dog and barked and I started to scream and had a panic attack. After this, my family encouraged me to go to accelerated resolution therapy and I think this has helped a little bit. I am not going to be petting dogs anymore."

When the attack occurred, Connie says Minneapolis Animal Care and Control were on scene and quarantined the dog to check for rabies, which it's not believed the animal had. A City of Minneapolis spokesman said: "The dog in this case does/did not live in Minneapolis (the bite occurred in Minneapolis).

"Therefore, the City's procedure is to notify the jurisdiction in which the animal resides. It is then up to that jurisdiction to enforce any action. The fine issued by Minneapolis Animal Care and Control in this case was paid."