LUCKY TO BE ALIVE

Model Mauled by Leopard Begged for Big Cat’s Life to Be Spared

Jessica Leidolph now has three plates in the left side of her face.

A German model who was mauled by a leopard during a photo shoot spent two weeks in the hospital and now has three metal plates in the right side of her face—but she still feels grateful. “If the leopard had caught my carotid artery, it would have been over,” Jessica Leidolph told Bild, according to People. “When it happened, I thought, ‘It’s over now.’ I know that I was very lucky that I am still alive at all.” The 36-year-old said that despite her grievous injuries, she asked that the 16-year-old show animal not be euthanized, calling the attack “unfortunate.” Leidolph said that a month after the mauling, she is still struggling physically. “I can’t put any weight on my left arm. The swollen half of my face feels like after a dental operation. I practice with chopsticks so that I can eat properly again,” she said.