Teen beating victim gets chance at new smile

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla - She walked into the office of a local dentist smiling and excited, with her mom by her side.

Thanks to Palm Beach dentist Dr. Mitchell Josephs, Josie Lou Ratley has a lot to be happy about.

She'll soon be getting her smile repaired for free. 

The visit is one of her first ventures out of her home in six months. Her mother says she's still taking it all in.

"She's a little nervous because she doesn't understand what we are going to do with the dentist, I had to explain it to her," said mother Hilday Gotay.

Josie still suffers from brain damage, and could not be interviewed.  But her mother says she is improving every day. Still she has a lot of pain in her jaw since the beating.

"It gets stuck when she opens her mouth, she has to force it to shut and that came from the accident," Gotay said.

That's where Dr. Josephs comes in. He met with the family and has offered his services at no cost.

 "It may be a year, year-and-a-half to do all of the work," Dr. Josephs said.

Ratley still has a lot of healing to do. She was in a coma for two months with severe bleeding to her brain.

Her alleged attacker, student  Wayne Treacy,  is accused of stomping on her face with steel-toe boots in a fit of rage over a text message.

Ratley's mother says people like Dr. Josephs are helping them put the horrible past behind them.

Dr. Josephs says he is inspired by the teenager's will to survive. "She's the victim of a vicious crime," he said.  "She's doing great."