St. Louis mom scared for life after dog tears her lips off

A St. Louis mother was left unrecognizable after something triggered her friend’s usually-friendly pet Labrador, causing the dog to tear off half of her lips in a horrifying attack.

Charlie O’Dell was visiting a friend on Nov. 19 when the previously well-behaved dog approached her and jumped up at her, sinking its teeth into the left side of her mouth, Kennedy News and Media reported.

The pup tore off O’Dell’s top and bottom lip, leaving her with an artery poking out of her skin and causing her to faint.

The 30-year-old mom of three was rushed to a nearby hospital where a plastic surgeon stitched her up.

Two weeks later, the young mom says she hopes the three upcoming lip surgeries she has scheduled will make her look “more normal.”

“I didn’t expect the dog to attack me. It happened so quickly. It was just like how normal dogs see someone and come over and jump on them,” O’Dell said. “I didn’t even realize it took my lip off.”

O’Dell’s friend immediately put her dog in the bathroom before coming to her aide. In that moment, O’Dell pulled her hand down from her mouth, saw the massive amounts of blood pouring out and fainted.

“That’s when I noticed all the blood was pouring out. I was screaming when I saw my face in the bathroom mirror,” she said. [All] of my clothes were soaked in blood, and their [my friends’] clothes were soaked too.

She added: “I just remember saying that I needed to go to the hospital and my friend’s face of shock and terror and then I passed out.”

Now at home recovering, O’Dell can only take small bites of food, and largely has to avoid eating foods that require a lot of chewing.

While she’s gone through a hellish ordeal, she holds no grudges toward her friend.

“My friend went through a traumatic experience too, witnessing all that,” she said. “I know I’m going through something traumatic too, but I’m very empathetic and I can’t imagine how it would feel for her to have to witness that. It wasn’t my friend’s fault.”

O’Dell is currently unemployed, according to a GoFundMe set up to help expense the three surgeries she requires.

The attack wasn’t reported to police but the dog ended up being surrendered to the city of St. Louis with an incident report attached.