In April 2022 Jordan Wilson was visiting her partner’s brother in Tampa. After dinner she sat on the floor petting two dogs—a Labrador and a Boerboel, a large South African mastiff. The Boerboel lunged, locked onto her nose, and would not release. When the owner pulled the dog off, the nose was gone: a total nasal avulsion. Witnesses believed the animal swallowed the tissue. Her cheek was torn as well. She was rushed through emergency rooms and later sought specialized reconstruction. She had been dating her now-fiancé only a short time; he moved with her for treatment.

Reconstruction was led at UT Southwestern Medical Center by plastic surgeon Dr. James Thornton. Because nothing remained to sew back, the team built a nose from her own tissue: cartilage grafts from rib and ear for the framework, then a paramedian forehead flap—skin still attached to its blood supply, rotated down to cover the new structure. A tissue expander first stretched the forehead so there would be enough skin. Later stages divided the flap, thinned bulky tissue, and used more expanders to help close the forehead scar. Wilson has described a dozen to sixteen operations, with more revisions planned. Touching the new nose once felt like touching her forehead while the flap was still connected. The nose produces mucus; the nostrils are narrow.

She documented expanders, scars, and recoveries on TikTok (@sincerelyjord), found other people with facial trauma, and has spoken of organizing a retreat. She still likes dogs but is more cautious around her children. Forehead-flap nasal reconstruction is a standard, staged method after cancer or bite injuries. It restores a breathing, reasonably matched nose; it does not restore the original. Patience, many anesthetics, and a team that does this work often are the real story—not a single miracle operation.

Sources
UT Southwestern patient story, “After traumatic dog bite, surgeons rebuild woman’s nose”; PEOPLE exclusive interview with Jordan Wilson; contemporaneous coverage of the April 2022 Tampa attack and subsequent Dallas reconstruction.