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Christy Mack got dressed up and attended an event on Saturday for the first time since her ex-boyfriend, MMA Fighter Jonathan "War Machine" Koppenhaver, brutally beat her in her Las Vegas home on August 8. We're happy to report that she's doing much better. The event she attended was, fittingly, a fundraiser for Face Forward, a nonprofit that helps women and children who have been abused recover both mentally and physically, Huffington Post reports. Mack will not herself be financially benefitting from the charity, as Mack received more in donations than she needed to cover her surgeries. The surplus, she recently tweeted, will be donated "to charities and shelters of my choosing to help other women in need."
When police responded to Mack on August 8, her eyes and lips were swollen, she had several broken bones in her face, a fractured eye socket, broken ribs and a ruptured liver.
Yesterday, she posted an update on her condition along with photos on Instagram.
2 days, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and last night. I've had several dentist visits to make eating more comfortable and make my smile look more normal. I still have a few more dental visits to go. I've had my eyes checked out and made aware that I'm very lucky to have my vision where it is, since the muscle is tethered by the fragments from the blowout fracture in my left eye. My multiple nose fractures will be fixed in the next couple of months. While they're fairly symmetrical, my nose is shifted on the inside and out causing breathing issues. (I also make everyone feel how my bone sticks out on the left side because it feels so weird.) My top lip will regain movement in less than 6 months... looking forward to using straws again. My liver seems to be alright. I was admitted back to the hospital shortly after I was released the first time for some minor treatment, but I did not have to have surgery. While my face is starting to look decent again from the swelling going down, it is still not my own. Cutting what was left of my hair off, and losing 15 lbs (it's a lot when you're 5'1") made me feel even further away from myself. It's hard to look in the mirror every day and see someone you do not know. After having makeup done and dressing up for yesterday's charity event, I felt much better about how I look now. It made me feel more normal, and beautiful for the first time in a very long time. The event that I went to was for Face Forward. A non profit charity that funds surgeries for women and children that have been in horrible situations that require them to have reconstructive surgery. They are not funding me, my surgeries are being donated by other doctors. I met many wonderful people and look forward to working more with them in the future.
On August 8, Jonathan "War Machine" Koppenhaver, 32, allegedly used a key he still had to enter Mack's home. Finding her sleeping in bed with Corey Thomas, whom she'd been dating, he first beat Thomas, then ordered him to leave. Thomas went to his work, where he called the police. While Koppenhaver was alone with Mack, police say he forced her to shower in front of him and savagely beat her. After sawing off some of her hair with a dull knife, he told her he was going to find a sharper one. She was then able to run to a neighbor's house for help.
After the attack, Koppenhaver went on the run, inspiring Dog the Bounty Hunter to vow to track him down. But before Dog could get to him, he was discovered and arrested at a motel in the Simi Valley on August 15.
Kopperhaver has been charged with battery with substantial bodily harm, strangulation, battery with substantial bodily harm (domestic violence-related), kidnapping (domestic violence-related), open and gross lewdness (domestic violence-related), and attempted murder (domestic violence-related). In total, he faces 31 charges and has his next court date on October 17, International Business Times reports.
