A lighthearted moment with her dog ended up changing Jayne Hardman’s life, after an accidental blow to the face led to the discovery of a rare and devastating autoimmune illness.
The Worcestershire woman was injured in 2012 when her dog accidentally struck her nose with its head. At first, it seemed like the kind of mishap that would heal on its own, despite the swelling and heavy bleeding.
But the injury did not settle. Instead of improving within days, her nose remained swollen for months, prompting a series of appointments with medical specialists.
Doctors eventually found that the trauma had activated an underlying case of granulomatosis with polyangiitis, previously called Wegener’s granulomatosis. The rare autoimmune disease causes inflammation in the blood vessels and can severely damage surrounding tissue.
Jayne has since explained that she was not initially given the most effective treatment, and the illness continued to worsen. Over the following years, it destroyed cartilage and tissue inside her facial cavity.
“It was basically necrotising—it was eating away so that my septum crumbled and went, and my nose started to fall into my face,” Jayne shared during a recent episode of This Morning.
“Over a period of a couple of years, it went from being swollen to completely flat.”
She said the physical changes had an enormous effect on her confidence and day-to-day life, making even basic tasks outside the home feel overwhelming.
“I walked around like that for about 18 months, two years. Leaving the house was incredibly difficult because every time you go out, people would stare at you,” she said.
“People would ask you incredibly intrusive questions, very rude questions.”
By 2017, surgeons had no choice but to remove what remained of her nose in order to prevent infection from spreading further.
Just six weeks later, Jayne received a prosthetic replacement, something she described as transformational.
“I just look normal again,” she said. “When you’ve got a facial difference, it’s incredibly hard to go out and face the world.”
Rather than putting her through several reconstructive operations involving skin grafts, clinicians used another approach. They placed three titanium implants into the bones of her face.
Those implants hold magnetic attachments, which allow specially made silicone noses to be secured in place each day. This osseointegrated approach—where implants fuse directly with bone—is increasingly preferred in maxillofacial prosthetics as it provides superior retention and hygiene compared to traditional adhesive-based methods.
The prosthetics were designed with remarkable precision. Specialists created them from molds of real noses and matched them carefully to her skin tone, texture, pores, and subtle colouring.
Over time, Jayne also built up a selection of different prosthetic noses to suit different times of year and social situations.
The operation did more than alter her appearance. Once the diseased tissue had been removed, Jayne also regained her senses of smell and taste, both of which she had been without for five years.
Before getting her prosthetics, she has said she rarely wanted to leave home and found it hard even to face her own reflection.
Now, she speaks publicly about what she went through in an effort to spread awareness of vasculitis and challenge perceptions surrounding facial prosthetics.
“I hated the way I looked and couldn’t look anyone in the eye,” Jayne reflected. “Now, I’m loving life again. My prosthetics gave me my freedom back.”
Granulomatosis with polyangiitis, or GPA, is an uncommon autoimmune disease affecting around 3 in 100,000 people. It is not contagious.
The condition falls under the broader category of vasculitis, where the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own blood vessels. That response causes inflammation, swelling, and reduced circulation.
GPA often affects the small blood vessels in the sinuses, upper airways, lungs, and kidneys, which is why its early warning signs can resemble a lingering cold or a severe sinus problem.
If it is not treated, that ongoing inflammation can form granulomas, which are clusters of immune cells capable of damaging nearby cartilage and bone. In serious cases, that can lead to perforation of the septum or the collapse of the nose.
Treatment is aimed at suppressing the immune response, reducing blood vessel inflammation, and limiting long-term damage to organs.
In the earlier stages, patients are often given high-dose corticosteroids together with biologic drugs such as Rituximab or powerful immunosuppressants like Cyclophosphamide to bring the disease under control quickly. Rituximab is now considered standard biologic treatment for GPA. In recent years, a new complement-inhibiting drug called avacopan has emerged as an additional treatment option that can help reduce the need for steroids, thereby limiting exposure to their associated side effects.
After remission is achieved, care usually shifts into a maintenance phase that can last for years, often using medications such as Azathioprine or Methotrexate to lower the risk of relapse.
Even when the disease becomes inactive, some patients are left with permanent structural damage. For that reason, long-term care can also involve monitoring the organs, using preventative antibiotics, and in some cases reconstructive treatment or custom prosthetics to restore both function and appearance.