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Suzel Mackintosh suffered horrific injuries in the attack by the Staffordshire-pit bull crossbreed.

But the 23-year-old has vowed to continue her modelling career.

She spent a week in hospital and underwent plastic surgery on her face following the incident on New Year’s Eve.

Despite doctors’ best efforts she still has trouble lifting her lip on the right due to muscle damage.

She told the Daily Star Sunday: “I patted the dog and it just went for me. I fell back and I could feel my nose hanging off.

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“The side of my face and mouth were ripped up. I looked like The Joker.”

Suzel, who lives in Shoreditch, in east London, was visiting friends in south-west Australia when the attack happened.

The group had gone camping in the remote Pemberton area and were an hour away from being able to call for help because of the poor phone reception.

She said: “A friend of a friend brought their dog along. We played with it in the day and at night we put it in the vehicle to sleep.

“I went to get something from the car and it jumped on my face.

“I did nothing to provoke it.”

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After the attack Suzel thought her hopes of becoming a model had been crushed forever.

She added: “I thought my dreams were trashed, that no-one would love me again.

“I knew that all the insecurities I had before were nothing next to what I faced now.

“When I was in the hospital I contemplated not being around anymore. I was in a really, really bad place.”

Suzel, who is originally from Perth in Australia, decided to return to London and try and make her career work.

She did a video with web comic Jack Jones, which has had more than two million views.

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But online trolls still taunted her about her looks.

“There were a lot of comments about my face,” she said.

“One guy wrote, ‘did you have too many d***s shoved in there on Friday night?’

“It was hurtful and it made my insecurities worse.”

Single Suzel now plans to be a spokesman for domestic abuse victims.

She was in a troubled relationship for two years from the age of 17 and wants to help others.

“I was told I wasn’t pretty and I couldn’t do anything,” she said.

“I want other women to know that no matter what, you should still do the things you want to do.”

Despite her injuries, Suzel has never received an apology for the owner of the dog.

She added: “He never said sorry and he never offered any support.

“In some ways that hurts more than the injuries.”