Courtney Sparrow, the Zimbabwean girl treated in South Africa after being mauled by lions, has been discharged from hospital, but the family now faces large medical bills, a spokesperson said on Thursday.

Sparrow was attacked by two lions which guarded her parents' property in Masvingo in the south of the country from war veterans on 16 September.

A Harare hospital felt it could not deal with her injuries properly so she was airlifted to South Africa's Milpark Hospital the next day.

Sparrow underwent a 16 hour operation and was tended by a range of specialists to tend to serious injuries to her oesophagus, the dura surrounding her brain, a piece of her skull which was bitten off, her eye, and bites on her face and body.

She is still in Johannesburg being monitored and although thin and run down, she is building up her strength.

"The issue the family now faces is how to pay for expenses, owing to Netcare, the Milpark Hospital, Medical Air Rescue Services and the various doctors," a statement said.

She needs further surgery to rebuild a part of her face as well as cosmetic surgery.

"We did not have medical insurance," her father Ron said in the statement, "because our Zimbabwean medical aid has gone into liquidation and we didn't have international cover."

People have been donating money towards the expenses, including BSi Steel which provided R100 000 and an audited trust fund has been made available for her to raise money for expenses and for businesses to make tax-deductible donations.

"Businesses and members of the public are asked to help the Sparrow family with contributions so that this will aid Courtney to put her life back together," the statement said.

The trust, called Neil's Comfort Fund, holds an account with Standard Bank, account number 252-682-580, branch number 057525 and swift code SBZAZAJJ, with the reference BSI.