A four-year-old girl was convinced her mum was going to die after she was so badly beaten she 'looked like Elephant Man'.
Charlotte Lancaster was knocked on the floor and repeatedly punched in the face by Christopher Balmer until she started to lose consciousness.
The mother-of-two suffered a bleed on the brain in the attack and was so badly injured her daughter thought she would die.
The victim's mother said one side of her swollen face looked as if it had collapsed and compared her injuries to the severe deformities suffered by Joseph 'John' Merrick, known as the Elephant Man.
At Bolton Crown Court, Balmer was jailed for 32 months after admitting inflicting grievous bodily harm.
In a statement Miss Lancaster, a nursing assistant, told police: ''I feel like I've gone through hell and back and I feel disgusted with how I was treated.
"My daughter thought I was going to die and at that time she couldn’t look at me because of my injuries.
"I feel awful that my children had seen me in that state and we've all been left devastated.
"This has ruined my life.''
She added: ''I lived with my mum for a while after the attack and I felt like I lost everything.
"It took a long time for the swelling to go down completely and the black eye was horrendous and took weeks to open.
"I feel like I have gone from being an independent woman to one requiring monitoring because of the injury to my brain.'
''I have been diagnosed with PTSD and suffer memory loss. It took a while for me to get back to work and this whole experience has caused me anxiety and stress.
"My world has been turned upside down by the events that night.''
The couple started their relationship in May 2019 but split up in January 2020 following an argument, although they remained friends.
The attacked took place on May 9 last year after Miss Lancaster invited Blamer over for drinks at her home in Leigh, Greater Manchester.
Gavin Howie prosecuting said: ''Her four-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son were both present at the house on the night of the assault.
"Miss Lancaster and Balmer were having a drink when he accused her of seeing somebody else.
''The next thing she recalls is being on the floor with the defendant punching her repeatedly.
"He appeared to walk off but some short time later, he returned and continued punching.
"Her son had heard shouting and later took photographs of the injuries and immediately sent them to his grandmother."
Miss Lancaster was taken to Wigan hospital for injuries to her left eye and a scan which showed a bleed to the brain.
"She said she had no sight in her eye, a bust lip and nose," Mr Howie continued.
"Miss Lancaster's mother described her daughter as looking like the elephant man with one side of her face looking like it was collapsing.''
Paul Treble, mitigating, said: “He cannot believe what he has done, and he feels dreadful about what he has done.
"He calls it himself ‘a dreadful attack’ and at no point is he blaming her. It is not her fault at all.
''He deeply regrets the injuries he caused and the effects it has had on the children.
"They have had no contact since. The defendant is trying to move on, he is working and is getting counselling.''
Sentencing the judge Miss Recorder Alexandra Simmonds told Balmer: “I have seen the photographs of Miss Lancaster's injuries, which can only be described as horrific.
"The entire left side of her face is extremely swollen and bruised. Her eye is closed, and her injuries must have been extremely painful.
''She details how the physical injuries have affected her and how they have prevented her from working, but also the impact it has had on her life generally.
"She describes how she has been traumatised by this brutal assault; she has lost her confidence.
"Her young daughter was traumatised and wouldn’t come near her because she thought she looked like a monster. ''
“You deny having been jealous, but this was a sustained and repeated assault and it seems to me your actions that night were deliberate.
"This took place in her home where she should have felt safe. This was an incident of domestic violence, which should be treated more seriously by the court.''
Balmer, a father-of-two, was banned from contacting Miss Lancaster for life under the terms of a lifetime restraining order.
He had previously been jailed for leaving a seven-year-old girl with a busted lip and punching her father in the face as he lay on the floor with a broken leg during a fight at a caravan park in 2017.
The 32-year-old also has a 2010 conviction for assault on a police officer.
