KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A young girl is recovering after a rat crawled into her crib and attacked her. KCTV5's Dana Wright has been following the girl's journey as her doctors and family strive to give her a normal life.

At only 14 months old, Mayana has been through 17 surgeries as a result of the rodent attack.

Mayana's father said she is a fighter who deserves to be known for more than that split second in her crib that made headlines around the world in February 2007.

"I notice when we go out, people do stare at her," Mayana's father, Michael, said. "Her sisters understand what happened to her and are very protective of her."

In the past year, surgeons at Children's Mercy Hospital have given Mayana an upper lip and fixed her forehead. They said they won't be able to give Mayana a nose for another five or six more years until her face matures.

Mayana has a few minor medical procedures ahead of her before the big reconstructive surgery down the road to help restore her nose.

Michael, single father of four, still lives in the same house with Mayana and his three other daughters where it happened.

City exterminators saturated the neighborhood after the rat attacked, but with several abandoned houses on the block, including the one next door, Michael said the rodent problem will never go away. He sets mouse traps every night.