After mountain lion attack, woman adjusts to disfigurement
May 16th, 2008From the Los Angeles Times:
A young woman walked into a restaurant last week and sat close enough to get a good look at Anne Hjelle’s face. A mountain lion had torn off the left side four years before, leaving it hanging by a flap of skin. Six surgeries hadn’t camouflaged the scars.
“She saw me and had a deer-in-the-headlights look,” said Hjelle, 35, of Mission Viejo. “She quickly got up and moved so she didn’t have to look at me.”
The stranger’s reaction didn’t hurt Hjelle’s feelings.
“I’ve had to learn the hard way that beauty comes from within,” she said.
… Soon after leaving the hospital, Hjelle — a personal trainer who had a model’s looks — put away the hats and sunglasses she used to hide her face. She started to put her hair in a ponytail. She wasn’t going to be ashamed.
“I could have curled up into a ball or gotten on with my life,” said Hjelle, a former Marine helicopter mechanic. “It’s not easy, but I wanted to conquer my fears — just like you do in mountain biking.”
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