Brooklinn Khoury Has Stitches Removed After 7th Reconstructive Surgery and Can Finally Skateboard Again
Brooklinn Khoury/TikTok
Brooklinn Khoury is thrilled to have her stitches removed after three weeks of itchiness.
The 23-year-old posted a TikTok video to show her latest medical update on the long road to recovery after her upper lip and part of her nose were ripped off in a pit bull attack in 2020.
"My stitches have been on my face for three weeks. Starting to get kinda itchy. And they feel like whiskers, so I'm excited to get them out," she says in the video, which has been viewed more than 1.6 million times. Now the stitches are gone, Khoury is cleared to take part in sports again.
Replying to one of the video's comments, she also shared how the whole reconstruction surgery area was still quite swollen.
And while the pro skateboarder could barely contain how thrilled she was to ditch the stitches, there are still more steps to complete. In a TikTok post from earlier this week, Khoury and her partner Chloé Lukasiak spoke about the final step — having her lips tattooed so they are the same color.
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However, Khoury also says the upper section of the skin graft was from her arm and its color will "never be the same" as the complexion on the rest of her face.
Khoury's remarkable recovery is nearing completion after undergoing seven reconstructive surgeries. The skateboarder spoke with PEOPLE after her most recent procedure, explaining it was exciting to think that she could soon "...I don't want to say move on but, you know, start with life again."
"Basically, my doctor is recreating the top lip in this surgery — creating a Cupid's bow and central columns. So kind of making my lip look more aesthetic," Khoury told PEOPLE, noting that her surgeries typically take all day to complete. "My doctor's very cautious and wants to do everything perfectly."
Brooklinn Khoury
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Looking ahead, Khoury says she is eager to put these surgeries behind and take part in sports and the active lifestyle she loves so much.
"That's one of the hardest things is just having to sit still and kind of refocus my attention into not being active and hiking, biking, surfing and skating," she says. "But we're almost at the finish line."
