What an unexpected sight
October 12, 2018 was a day that I will never forget. School was out due to the visit of Hurricane Michael and my 8 year old was going to spend the day with her Aunt. Her Aunt was working for a local vet at a privately owned dog rescue on a beautiful piece of property in rural NC. The dogs had all been at the rescue for some amount of time, were well cared for and properly vaccinated. Large, clean kennels houses about 14 of these dogs who were not allowed to roam free. What seemed like it would be an interesting fun day quickly turned into trauma for my child. As they were going from kennel to kennel feeding the dogs, Emily trailed along behind helping to carry the bucket of food for her Aunt to distribute to the animals. Upon approaching one of the cages, she stepped in behind her aunt and was attacked by the dog and dragged into the kennel by her shoulder. The dog proceeded to maul her and she sustained injury to her throat, right shoulder, right flank area as well as multiple bruises and superficial scratches across her entire body. I was not prepared for what I saw when she entered the Emergency Room that morning. The call to say “She has a dog bite” gave no indication of the types of injuries my sweet child had sustained. Emergency surgery to clean and close wounds, plastic surgeon consults, Penrose Drains, and 3 days of IV ABX – was not indicated anywhere in the “she was bitten by one of the dogs” call I received. I was in shock and disbelief as I surveyed the wounds, tried to comfort her through the pain, and spoke with the surgical teams as they all came to survey her wounds and prepare for the surgery. Two weeks later, her wounds are healing but she is an emotional rollercoaster. My heart hurts for her, As a parent I want to fix it for her, but I am not able to make this go away. No child should have to live with fear and anxiety, nightmares and pain every day.
