Trent student forced to wait a year for reconstructive surgery after his ear was bitten off in Fresher’s Week

A student who was left disfigured after half of his ear was bitten off will finally have reconstructive surgery – over a year after the horrific attack.

Nathan Dresser, 19, was on the dancefloor at Nottingham Trent University’s student union bar when he was assaulted during Fresher’s Week last year. He got into a fight with a guy who then ran up behind him and bit off part of his ear in The Level last year on October 4th.

Nathan was rushed to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham where the grim-looking wound was cleaned and stitched up. Graphic injury pictures taken at the hospital show a gaping hole along the length teenager’s ear.

But wait, it gets worse. Nathan was then left mortified after he was forced to wait over a year for reconstructive surgery. He has finally been given a date for the operation which will take place on October 7 at the Royal Free Hospital in London. But the student is yet to receive justice after Nottinghamshire Police admitted they had “no suspects”.

Nathan, who is from Durham, was forced to defer his university place due to being on a lot of medication, including antibiotics and painkillers, after the attack. On Friday the Business Management and Entrepreneurship student said: “A guy just grabbed me by the throat so we got into a little fight.

“We walked away from each other and I stood on the dancefloor talking to someone. Five minutes later a guy ran up behind me and latched onto my ear and bit it off. I wasn’t able to attend university so I decided to take a year out to try and get surgery.

“But because there are only a few specialists in the UK who are able to perform this type of surgery, I wasn’t able to get it until now.”

Nathan, who moved back to Nottingham this week, hopes he will be able to start university as normal after being told his recovery is expected to take two weeks. He added: “It was hard seeing all of my friends having a great time at uni while I was just at home.

“I’m having to start again but I can’t start properly because I have to have surgery straight away.”

Ear reconstruction surgery is considered one of the most challenging plastic surgery procedures. Nathan’s surgeon Walid Sabbagh is one of just four people in Britain who are qualified to carry out the procedure. He will harvest cartilage from Nathan’s rib and carve it into the shape of an ear during the operation which will take between four and six hours.

Mr Sabbagh said: “Ear reconstruction with rib cartilage is one of the most complex operations in plastic surgery.”

Nottinghamshire Police confirmed one man had been arrested in connection with the attack but he was later released. A spokesman said: “One man was arrested in connection with the incident but was subsequently released without charge.

“Despite extensive efforts between the police and the university to bring the incident to the attention of students there are no suspects at this stage.”

Anyone who has information is urged to call the force on 101 quoting incident number 78 of 4 October, 2015.