Woman’s Lip Found ‘Chewed Up’ on the Floor After Savage Labrador Attack in a Restaurant

A woman’s casual bike ride with her partner ended in a scene straight out of a nightmare after a friendly encounter with a dog turned brutally wrong — leaving her without most of her bottom lip. Connie Wanberg, a 58-year-old professor from Minnesota, was enjoying a day out cycling when they made a pit stop at a local restaurant.

It was there she spotted two women with their Labrador retriever and, being the dog lover she is, asked if she could say hello to their pet. After getting the go-ahead, she leaned in to pet the pooch — and in a split second, the dog lunged and bit her straight on the mouth, reported Daily Star.

“It took a huge hole out of the side of my face, it took 75% of my bottom lip,” Connie said, recounting the horrifying moment. What was meant to be a warm interaction turned into a traumatic event that left her permanently scarred. “The dog just jumped so high and it was one huge bite. Later they found my lip on the patio and it was all chewed up and was impossible to recover.”

The damage was devastating. She described having a complex laceration on her left cheek, her jaw exposed, and the muscles around the side of her mouth completely gone. Strangely, despite the brutal nature of the attack, she didn’t feel immediate pain. “Initially, I didn’t feel pain, my body went into shock from the adrenaline. At the time, I felt bad for the owner and the dog as I’m such a dog lover,” she shared.

But the real battle came afterward. Connie went through a rare and complicated surgery known as an Estlander flap procedure – a reconstruction typically reserved for victims of gunshots or serious accidents – to build her a new bottom lip. Surgeons had to use tissue from her upper lip to rebuild what was lost. “Lip tissue is very precious and the bottom lip is even more precious,” she said.

Post-surgery life has been incredibly tough. Connie had to survive on a liquid diet for weeks, relearn how to speak and deal with the emotional toll of her altered appearance. She couldn’t open her mouth, developed a stutter, and continues to attend regular speech therapy.

To make matters worse, she was diagnosed with severe Bell’s Palsy as a result of the muscle damage, which has left her with microstomia – a condition that causes an unusually small mouth, making it difficult to even breathe properly at times.

Months on, the physical and emotional scars remain. Connie admitted that for a while she felt too self-conscious to go out in public. “Sometimes it’s hard to feel like myself,” she said, reflecting on the long-term impact. The experience has changed her life in ways she never imagined — all from a moment that started with kindness and ended in tragedy.