Grandmother had her face chewed off by her own dog after she was knocked unconscious when she fell down the stairs

A grandmother who had her face chewed off by her dog can finally see again after 100 operations to restore her sight.

Grandmother Wendy Hamriding knocked herself unconscious when she fell down the stairs and woke in agony two hours later covered in blood.

Her dog Cassie, a Rhodesian Ridgeback cross, had desperately tried to rouse her - then became more frantic in its efforts.

Wendy Hamriding pictured before her dog mauled her face and (right) after operations to restore her sight

Unable to curb her natural instincts, the dog began nibbling Wendy's bloodied face until it had eaten her right eye and the bone around the socket.

Mrs Hamriding, 53, who lives alone, could still see out of her left eye but had been so badly mauled she lost her remaining sight during extensive plastic surgery and skin grafts.

She remained blind for two years while she underwent a series of complex operations known as 'tooth-in-eye' surgery to restore sight in her left eye.

The procedure - osteo-odonto-keratoprothesis - is a two-stage procedure which uses one of the patient's canine teeth.

It is removed, shaped and drilled to allow the implantation of an artificial corneal device known as an optical cylinder which is then implanted into the eye.

Mrs Hamriding now has tunnel vision in her left eye and has seen her two sons and two grandchildren for the first time since the attack in December 2011.

Despite her dog being put down, Mrs Hamriding says she owes her life to it because it saved her from an early grave through alcoholism.

Since the incident Wendy says she has kicked the bottle and is now devoting her life to helping alcoholics and heroin and cocaine addicts.

Mrs Hamriding pictured with consultant Mark Vose who rebuilt her face with the help of her canine teeth

She believes she was weeks away from dying as a result of her own addiction when she fell down the stairs at her home in Preston, Lancashire, after downing a full bottle of vodka.

Wendy said: 'Cassie saved my life and I would rather be blind for life than dead. Before this happened, I was weeks away from dying as a result of drink.

'I was drunk from the moment I woke up and would stay drunk all day. I would even wake up during the night to have a drink. I was dying. I knew alcohol was killing me, but I could not stop drinking.

A TOOTH FOR AN EYE: HOW DENTAL TISSUE IS USED TO MAKE IMPLANT

Osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis is a medical procedure to restore vision in the most severe cases of corneal and ocular surface patients which includes removal of a tooth from the patient or a donor.

After removal, a lamina of tissue cut from the tooth is drilled and the hole is fitted with optics. 

The lamina is grown in the patients' cheek for a period of months and then implanted upon the eye.

'I lost my eye and I lost my dog, but it was the best thing that could have happened.'

She added: 'She didn't just eat my eye. she ate the bone around my eye socket too.

'I was in hospital for three months and they reckoned if she'd done it on the left hand side where my brain is I wouldn't have survived.

'They had to rebuild a lot - the palate was taken out of my mouth to rebuild my eye socket. I had over 100 operations.'

Wendy was taken to the Royal Preston Hospital where plastic surgeons re-built her face using flesh from her stomach and a skin graft from her leg.

Although she could initially see out of her left eye the skin grafts left her blind and she remained that way for almost two years.

Wendy, whose sons are aged 33 and 19, explained: 'The problem was that the skin they had used was too coarse and was damaging the sight I had left.'

Consultant Mark Vose referred Wendy to Brighton-based specialist Professor Christopher Liu who makes false corneas using the 'tooth-in-eye' surgery.

Wendy said: 'When they first told me that my tooth was going to be put into my eye to make me see, it sounded like something from of a film.

Mrs Hamriding says her dog saved her life because it helped her to stop drinking

'But I trusted Mr Vose and his team and was willing to give it a try. It sounds so surreal, but it really does work.'

Wendy is overcome as she recalls the moment she was able to see grandchildren Lily, 11, and Josh, ten, once more.

She said: 'It was so emotional. I can see my sons again, and I have been able to see my grandchildren's faces for the first time in two years.

'Being able to see again after being blind is so amazing. Words cannot describe how wonderful it is.'

She added: 'Since the accident, I haven't touched a drop of alcohol. I know some people will be surprised and shocked to hear me say this, but I am glad this happened to me and that my dog ate half my face, as at least it stopped me drinking.

'My job is now working with alcoholics and heroin and cocaine addicts. After what happened to me I want to help people with addictions, because I don't want anyone else to go through what I did.

'I am so lucky to have had my life saved when I was so close to dying as a result of alcohol, and I am even luckier to have got my sight back.

'Even if I hadn't got any vision back, I would sooner be blind than drunk.'

In defence of her dog, a little mongrel who she had owned for 10 years, Wendy insists: 'Cassie did not do it as something vicious.

'Even though I could see the appalling damage she had done to my face, I knew she had inadvertently saved my life.

'She was just trying to wake me up and had been nibbling at my face, but had gone too far. Sadly, she had to be put down because she had tasted blood.'

Mrs Hamriding pictured in 2008 with her son's dog, Butch - which did not carry out the attack - and granddaughter Lily

Mark Vose, consultant ophthalmologist at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: 'Wendy's courage has got her to where she is today. She has had multiple procedures done and was not afraid of giving anything a go.

'She has been through a lot over the last two years, and there have been many surgical challenges such as the prevention of infection.

'Another huge challenge was the lack of blood supply to the eye and the fact that Wendy had no eyelid or eyelid function that there were only two muscles remaining on her good eye.

'There has been a lot of team work between the opthalmic team and plastic surgeons here at the trust, and we are all extremely happy that Wendy has had success in being able to see again.'