Miami cannibal victim learning to play guitar as part of treatment a year after most of his face was chewed off in horrific attack

• Ronald Poppo almost died after he was attacked by Rudy Eugene
  
• He was left blind and lost his nose in the frenzied assault in May last year
  
• Mr Poppo works with occupational therapist on how to take care of himself
  
• Doctors say he has learned guitar and practices every day

By Becky Evans

PUBLISHED: 08:18 EST, 21 May 2013 | UPDATED: 10:05 EST, 21 May 2013

A homeless man whose face was mostly chewed off in a horrific attack last year in Miami has learned to play guitar as he continues to receive treatment for his injuries.

Ronald Poppo spent almost a month in hospital after the attack in Miami in May last year.

He has been left blind but his doctors say he has been working with an occupational therapist to learn how to take care of himself.

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Ronald Poppo (right) has been learning to play guitar as part of his treatment a year after 75 per cent of his face was chewed off by Rudy Eugene (left) in a frenzied attack on a Miami highway

He has been living in a long-term care facility since the gruesome attack.

Mr Poppo has been learning to play guitar and practices the instrument daily.

About 75 per cent of Mr Poppo's face was chewed off by Rudy Eugene in the shocking assault.

Miami police shot and killed Eugene after being called to the scene on the side of a highway.

Surveillance video from a nearby building shows Eugene stripping Poppo and beating him before appearing to hunch over and lie on top of him.

The police officer who shot Eugene to death said he growled at the officer when he told him to stop.

Emergency callers had reported seeing a naked man swinging from a light pole on Miami's MacArthur Causeway a few minutes before the attack.

Poppo has been living in a care facility since the gruesome attack that was captured on surveillance cameras

It was widely speculated that Eugene was on bath salts when he launched the frenzied attack - however toxicology tests found only marijuana in his system.

A graphic picture released at the time showed the extent of Mr Poppo's injuries.

Two-thirds of his face was covered in scabs and his nose was missing.

His grey beard was trimmed, leaving a moustache over his upper lip.

The homeless man underwent several surgeries at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida before being transferred to a local-term care center.

Mr Poppo, who is originally from New York, had been living on the streets of Florida for the past 30 years, estranged from his family who thought he had committed suicide years before.

Uncensored footage of Miami cannibal attack