Georgia Teen Faces Long Recovery After Horrific Pit Bull Attack

WINDER, GA — The family of a teenage girl whose scalp and left ear were torn off by two pit bulls said she’s facing a “long, hard” road to recovery.

Joslyn Stinchcomb, 15, a rising freshman at Winder-Barrow High School, was mauled by the two dogs Friday afternoon as she was walking through her neighborhood in Barrow County, according to multiple media reports.

A witness found Stinchcomb face down against a curb, one pit bull biting her neck and the other with its mouth on her head. A Barrow County Sheriff’s deputy shot one of the dogs when it approached him, and both dogs ran off.

The pit bulls have since been euthanized and their owner, 29-year-old Alexandria Torregrossa, charged with reckless conduct, said Sheriff Jud Smith.

Stinchcomb was flown to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, where doctors performed emergency surgery to repair her severely damaged trachea. They also tried to reattach her ear but aren’t sure if it will be viable, according to a family member as reported by The Barrow News-Journal. Stinchcomb was on a ventilator following the surgery.

Not only did Stinchcomb have multiple injuries, she had "asphalt in the tips of her fingers where it appears she tried to claw her way away from those dogs,” her family member posted, as reported by the Barrow County newspaper.

Stinchcomb was scheduled Tuesday to undergo more surgery to repair a damaged nerve on the left side of her face. Emory University doctors also are scheduled to see if they could repair her vocal chords so she could speak and “maybe even sing again,” a family member wrote on social media.

Charity Stinchcomb Montgomery, the girl’s aunt and spokesperson for the family, told Patch Tuesday that COVID-19 has made it impossible for anyone but her mother, Joslyn’s guardian, to attend to her in the hospital.

“My mom is getting exhausted,” Montgomery told Patch. “We wish that we could swap out with her.”

Stinchcomb's family is accepting donations through PayPal to help pay her medical expenses. This is currently the only online fundraiser authorized by the family.