Awake & Alert! New Pic Shows Face-Chewing Victim Ronald Poppo (GRAPHIC PHOTO)

Posted June 12, 2012 by The Decider for Global Grind Staff

Ronald Poppo, the 65-year-old homeless drifter who had his face chewed off over Memorial Day weekend, is now "awake and alert," according to doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center.

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According to the Associated Press, a photograph shown to reporters Tuesday portrayed Poppo walking down a hospital hallway, supported by hospital staff on either side of him.

Doctors were planning to talk more about his condition at a Tuesday news conference.

The photo showed the upper two-thirds of Poppo's face covered in scabs. Poppo is missing his nose, while both eye sockets were covered, one with gauze and one with what appeared to be a skin graft. His gray beard was trimmed, leaving a mustache over his upper lip.

Poppo has been at Jackson Memorial Hospital since he was attacked by Rudy Eugene, a man who was apparently under the influence of new hallucinogenic drugs called bath salts.

Surveillance video from a nearby building shows Eugene stripping Poppo and pummeling him before appearing to lie on top of him. A police officer shot and killed Eugene when they saw him eating Poppo's face.

Go to the next page to see the GRAPHIC PHOTO of Poppo.