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Handout / Reuters
Ronald Poppo, 65, is seen in a photo released by the Miami-Dade Police Department in May.
MIAMI -- The Miami doctors who have been caring for the homeless man whose face was mauled off by another man over Memorial Day weekend said Tuesday that he is awake and talking but cannot see and will need multiple surgeries.
Ronald Poppo has been recovering at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center since the May 26 attack along the MacArthur Causeway.
Video of the news conference where doctors discussed Poppo's condition
"I'm very pleased to say Mr. Poppo is doing very well today," Ryder's Chief of Trauma Dr. Nicholas Namias said during a news conference Tuesday. "He is eating, he is talking with us."
Poppo was rushed to the hospital after he was attacked by 31-year-old Rudy Eugene, who tore off and chewed most of the 65-year-old's face, authorities said.
Surgeon Wrood Kassira said Poppo's left eye was "essentially destroyed" and had to be removed, and his right eye has been covered with a flap of his own tissue in an attempt to salvage it. He can't see as of now but there is some hope that he may recover some vision, Kassira said.
"He is missing features that identified who he was before this trauma," Kassira said, adding that Poppo is missing a significant part of his nose and has undergone three surgeries to clean and close wounds. "He will need multiple surgeries in the future for reconstruction."
Read the original report at NBCMiami.com
About 50 percent of his face, including his forehead and cheek, were affected and he has an infection, brain injury and a puncture wound to his chest, Namias said.
"We see all sorts of awful wounds," Namias said. "The guy has got to be a survivor."
Namias said Poppo remembers the attack and has spoken with nurses about it but is coping remarkably well and is upbeat and pleasant. He is also getting help from mental health professionals and social workers.
Doctors said it is unknown how long he'll be in the hospital.
Eugene was fatally shot by an officer after he refused to stop the savage attack on Poppo, police said. Witnesses said a naked Eugene was throwing his clothes into traffic and swinging from a light pole shortly before the attack.
Though officials have speculated that the use of bath salts as a drug may have sparked Eugene's wild behavior, it remains unknown what prompted the attack.
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Officials said an autopsy report for Eugene would not be released to the public until the investigation into the shooting concludes - a process that could take more than a year.
Jackson Memorial Hospital has set up a fund to assist Poppo and anyone interested in contributing can visit www.jmf.org.
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Leave a Comment:
Can we not do something to help this poor man? Without all the "cute" comments? Can you even begin to imagine what he must have felt?
the face eater needs to be put down, if a dog attack a man it is requiered to be put down so stop wasting tax payer money on this animal and put him down.
He was shot and killed by police DURING the attack.
It will be some hospital bill. Since he's homeless, I can only assume the doctors are doing it pro bono or a samaritan is contributing money.
Sure pro bono on the rest of us...
Does anyone know if the zombie apocalpyse has been contained to the southern states. My laptop battery isn't going to last forever.
Some people here don't like that this victim is getting health care, but how about all the "ILLEGALS" that come here and get FREE health care???? They come here have their babies in OUR hospitals and then run back across the border without paying. But NOOO don't give Americans FREE health care.
We should eat them...
Please, someone tell me who would have paid for this man's injuries, medical needs, psychological treatments, in times when there was NO ObamaCare? We, the PEOPLE! Medicaid and donors would have been available and would have helped him in any way possible.
What does having his face ripped off and eyes gone, etc., to do with him being being a convicted felon? He did his time. This fact, if true, has NOTHING to do with anything. How do you know the attacker was on drugs?
I agree that this incident should NOT take Miami Dade a whole year to investigate. Give it to Horatio, he'll have it solved in one night~~jk.
May God be with this man in his recoveries. For sure his pain is not nearly over yet. May God grant him the ability to brave his future, and what all he still has to face. Give doctors the know how about helping this man. God bless all of you who are and are of concern. You are brave, too.
Hummmm I can only hope more of these face eaters appear. Reason for my concern is we seem to have an over run of Fags, Pedifiles, and Mexicans. Throw in a handfull of Political crooks and a few of the greedy FED blood suckers and this world starts looking pretty good. Just dont stop the face eaters while there on there feeding frenzy and your rid of the riff raff. Oh God! Its good to be me..... tah tah.
Wow, scary stuff!
As far as healthcare goes. If everyone was to contribute to society and pay for there own care this would not be a problem. Obama care is stupid. Why? Because in only means dishing out more money to pay for others healthcare when they are not contributing. There are so many people who sit on their rear-ends and do nothing. Have free housing, food, healthcare and do not contribute. oh and continue to have more kids!!
So the bottom line is what does it really matter if the government is going to pay for his medical bills, when so many others sponge off the government. It is a never ending cycle. Plus, there is a fund set up for the poor man to help pay for his medical bills.
The attacker, despite being black, clearly wasn't a racist........he obviously preferred white meat.
Good thing it wasn't the other way around, we've seen the actions and the mentality of the black community, they have presented their intellect for the world to see, some things will never change, as a whole, no matter how much money or government help...just that simple, as Obama carried 85% of the black vote and why?.
Actually this was a zombie outbreak, and the real Poppo is now a zombie, being studdied in an undisclosed secret lab somewhere trying to grab scientist's from his restraints. This guy in the news @ the hospital is some other guy who was paid a large sum of money to impersonate the real Poppo. How else do you explain his good mood and cheerful disposition after having half his face missing?
If you see someone stripping off their clothes, run home and baracade your doors and windows. Hopefully you already have your zombie apocolypse check list done and plenty of food, water and guns to survive the initial first wave.
So glad the attacker was killed!!!!
OF COURSE HE IS ALIVE!!! he is a zombie now... this is how the zombie apocalypse starts.. something random and innocent like bath salts. what happens if this guy decides he wants to meander over to the neurology lab for some noms while he is in the hospital... then what do we say? "oh it was the large quantities of morphine"?
I can't believe all the sick, twisted comments and jokes about this man. What a horrible thing to have happen to a human being. I don't give a damn who pays for his care as long as he gets the care he needs. He was minding his own business when the crazy face-eater dude tried to remove Poppo's clothing and begin his assault. I'm the drug awareness and educator for our company. We learned about bath salts in Dec 2010. Mostly it was causing severe paranoia and suicide in many, many cases. I guess it's become stronger or has been chemically altered to make someone murderous. It was being sold in convenience stores under the innocent name of bath salts. You could buy it right next to the meth pipes that are illegal to own. I've asked many store clerks if they knew their glass pipes in the case were illegal. Most replies were, "they're for incense". My ass. Sorry to drift off topic. I really hope he can make a full enough recovery to have some kind of normal in his life, he's been traumatized and it's really sad that so many are able to just make fun of him.
what the hell is wrong with most of you people, if this happened to you or one of your loved ones you'd beg, steal,or prostitute just to help them even if they were homeless. I don't have to live in Florida or know this man personally but I do know that I would be willing to help this stranger in any way I could. we live in America we have rights and if you don't like having to help your neighbors or other humans then move to Iraq or a small abandoned island where you would not be able to influence anyone else with your ignorance.
WAKE UP PEOPLE!!
Finally some intelligent and compassionate comments!! Thank you PBGeorgia99 and Juli-3816434; a man was nearly killed and people joke about it, or bitch about who will pay for it. I don't care what the man's past was, or who will pay for it, I just hope he recovers.