Raccoon-attacked girl ready for surgery

SPRING LAKE, Mich. (WOOD) - When Charlotte Ponce was just an infant, a raccoon got into her crib and viciously attacked her. Now, 10 years later, she's getting ready for reconstructive surgery to replace her nose, ear and part of her lip.

After the 2002 attack by her parents' pet raccoon, her parents lost custody. Charlotte was adopted by her great aunt and uncle who have been there every step of the way.

The surgery at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak begins in a few weeks and will "be at least six hours, possibly 10," said Sharon Ponce, the great aunt who adopted Charlotte. "We're excited but scared at the same time."

However, Charlotte's not nervous at all. She knows what's going to happen in the operating room: "Reverse my lip, build me a nose, maybe even an ear." She's looking forward to "more free popsicles."

The family's raising money in Muskegon this Friday to offset the cost of this and future surgeries. A spaghetti dinner at $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and students, $4 kids for kids (and 3-and-under are free) will be held at the Fellowship Reformed Church on Apple Avenue in Muskegon.

The expenses to be covered by the fundraiser include travel expenses and lodging while the Ponces are in the Detroit area.

On the Net:

Heal Charlotte - blog
healcharlotte.wordpress.com

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Donations to support the family’s travel related expenses for Charlotte’s surgeries can be made by direct transfer to PayPal to healingcharlotte@gmail.com or by mail to Charlotte Ponce, PO Box 397, Fruitport, MI 49415.

Volunteers are needed for the spaghetti dinner on July 27, 2012.