A teenager who suffered a facial deformity when hit by a coffee mug thrown by a teacher feels her face is once again normal after five months of continual therapy, and is ready to resume her schooling.
Naruedee Jodsanthia, 17, showed her face in public for the first time on Thursday, after being treated at Yanhee General Hospital in Bangkok since Sept 16 last year.
She was admitted to the hospital with the assistance of the Pavena Foundation for Children and Women.
Although she is not 100% recovered, the left side of her face still has only partial mobility, Nong Sai, as she is better known, looked happy and smiled confidently during her interview with the media, which was livestreamed on Facebook.
She expects to return home this weekend but will still need weekly visits to the hospital for further therapy for the next three months. (continues below)
The images chart Nong Sai's progress during treatment. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu)
Ms Naruedee said she was happy she could now live a normal life - such as eating, brushing her teeth or washing her hair.
A secondary student at Chokchai Samakkee School in Nakhon Ratchasima, she was injured when her 58-year-old physical education teacher, Paithoon Klaengkrathok, threw a coffee mug at her on Aug 8 for not sitting down when told to.
The mug struck her on the head, injuring nerves on the left side of Ms Narudee's face. The injury prevented her from closing her mouth and left eyelid. This caused her face to distort to the right side.
“I can have a normal life now. I have already accepted that the cure will not be 100%, but now my face is normal and I can again blend in without difficulty,” she said.
“It needed a lot of patience to stay away from my family for so long to get the treatment. Doctors said my face is normal now, but it needs a bit more time for the muscle on the left side to strengthen. Then I will look even better than today.”
Ms Naruedee was in Mathayom 5 when her teacher's temper tantrum interrupted her education.
She will now return to her hometown but will have to repeat Mathayom 5 when the new semester begins around May. She will not return to the same school.
She did not follow up on the legal case against the teacher but said she was a little sad he did not contact her at all to ask about her condition, as Mr Paithoon was also her adviser at the school.
Supoj Samritthiwanicha, a physician at Yanhee Hospital, said continuous treatment for five months had brought about satisfactory result for Nong Sai and her mother.
An inquiry by Secondary Educational Service Area Office 31 last year found that Mr Paithoon committed a minor disciplinary violation in throwing a mug towards a group of students in his care, but did not intend to hit Ms Naruedee. The mug bounced off a wall and struck her. He faced a possible salary cut.
He was transferred to another school.
