octors say the homeless Miami man whose face was mostly chewed off by a naked assailant is awake and alert and doing "well", but in need of more surgery.
Jackson Memorial Hospital released two photos of 65-year-old Ronald Poppo with his permission on Tuesday afternoon, one showing him walking down a corridor assisted on either side by a hospital worker.
The other gives a recent look at Poppo's horrific injuries, roughly 2 and a half weeks after the shocking assault on Miami's MacArthur causeway: one of his eyes is covered by gauze, the other, lost to the attack, is covered by skin. Poppo's nose is missing, and his forehead is a mass of scabs.
(Scroll down for graphic photos. Video above does not contain graphic imagery.)
The lower half of Poppo's face, roughly from mustache down, appears intact. Doctors said approximately 50 percent of his face was missing, and that the "extremely charming" Poppo remembers the attack, understands that he is in hospital, and is aware of media coverage.
"He's pleased to report to all of you that he's feeling well, he's eating, he's walking around with physical therapy, he's talking with us," said University of Miami trauma surgeon Nicholas Namias, co-director of JMH's Ryder Trauma Center. "He's had quite a bit of surgery already."
Plastic surgeon Dr. Wrood Kassira said the medical team's primary goal to date has been to clean and close Poppo's wounds, but her patient has had a "logical" response to conversations about reconstructive surgery.
"We have mental health professionals to help him with the coping, and he's coping remarkably well," she said.
Kassira confirmed Poppo has undergone three surgeries already and is currently fighting an infection, adding that Poppo, who cannot currently see from his remaining eye, also suffered a brain injury similar to someone in a car crash and was admitted with puncture wounds on his chest. (Records show Poppo was shot by an unnamed gunman in Miami's Bayfront Park in 1976.)
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