PHILADELPHIA -- In a gruesome fight at Temple University, a fellow classmate allegedly gnawed off a student's ear, but the suspect claims it was just in self-defense.

Whatever the fight was about, the outcome horrified both Temple students. Thomas Sheehan said the guy next to him in a dormitory elevator began shouting obscenities and threatening him. As he got off the elevator and walked into his room, he said he and the other student, Daniel Baez, got into a full-blown fight, which is when Baez allegedly bit him.

"First thing he got was my ear," Sheehan said. "It seems wrong but it was 20 seconds, then he ripped it off, chewed on it and spit it on the ground. He pointed at it with some more profanity as he ran."

Sheehan was taken to the hospital, and to save the damaged ear cartilage, doctors imbedded it in his stomach to allow it to grow, then reattached it using a skin graft from his leg.

"I could not breathe. I was scared for my life.

Baez, 21, claims he was defending himself from an intoxicated Sheehan, who he claims insulted his girlfriend. He says Sheehan had him by the throat.

"I bit down," Baez said. "I don't know what happened to his ear. He would not let go. The reason I did it was so he would let go. The more I bit down, the harder he choked me."

Baez has been suspended for a semester and faces an assault charge.

"This kid walks on with his everyday life," Sheehan said. "I walk around with a bandage and scarred for the rest of my life."

Baez told WCAU-TV that he is a straight-A student and nothing like this has ever happened to him before.

He has a court appearance scheduled for next month.