Charlotte Ponce home after 5th surgery

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A Spring Lake girl attacked by a raccoon as a baby has returned home after having her fifth reconstructive surgery.

Charlotte Ponce has been undergoing surgeries and procedures for months. Her nose was reconstructed Nov. 30 at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak and she was discharged the next day.

Monday, Charlotte was full of energy and feeling like herself as she and her adoptive mother spoke with 24 Hour News 8.

Sharon Ponce said she'll never forget the moment she walked into the recovery room and saw her daughter's new nose for the first time -- a moment she had dreamed about for years.

"I thought it was beautiful, just beautiful," Sharon said. "Obviously she's got a little bit of scarring and everything, but you can see it's there, it's what she wanted is there. For 10 years she'd been wanting her nose and now she's got it."

Charlotte was only 3 months old when her biological parents' pet raccoon climbed into her crib and mauled her. Her biological parents lost custody, and Charlotte's great aunt and uncle adopted her and her brother. They now live in Spring Lake.

Sharon said the family is grateful to put this last major surgery behind them.

"The other surgeries, all you could mostly see is the pain she was in afterwards," said Sharon. "But this one we know it would be the last one and we were going to see the final result."

Charlotte is now ready to put all of the major procedures behind her and looking forward to doing all the things 10-year-olds love to do. Armed with her well-worn friend, Jenessa the bear, Charlotte was doing well, bouncing and joking around just 3 days after her latest surgery.

Since 24 Hour News 8 first reported about Charlotte's surgeries in July, letters and donations have poured in. It was the overwhelming support from the community that made Charlotte's family decide to make her recovery so public.

Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak tweeted live updates during Charlotte's surgery on Friday. It's something the family wanted to share.

"People said we always wondered what happened to that little girl that got attacked by the raccoon 10 years ago and they were glad we did it," said Sharon. "We didn't do it for the publicity or whatever, we did it because we needed a little bit of help."

Sharon is saving all of the messages and cards so Charlotte can look back one day and really understand how many people helped her.

But all of the support is not lost on the 10-year-old.

"Thank you for all the letters and stuff," she said.

Charlotte has a check-up Dec. 26 and hopes to return to school after the first of the year.

She may undergo her final surgery as early as next spring when her doctors will build her a new ear.