Attacked by a Pit Bull | home
and then I prayed....
Dear lord, please don't let me die. Please. I'm about to die and I'm not ready. Please forgive me for not being as good a person as I should have. Please don't let me die like this, on this cold ground with my dying pet in my arms. Please let me see my child again. Please let me see my mother again.
Please!
He heard my prayer. Why, I don't know. Why he would consider me worthy, I don't know that either. But, as I Iay there knowing this was my last day alive, my last moment, he sent an angel. A big muscular man ran to my aid. I saw him run up to us, I heard him holler at my husband to get me out of there as he grabbed this dog , pulling him off of me. As my husband was helping me up, I remember seeing this beautiful man holding this creature in the air by it's neck, struggling with it as he made sure I was safe.
As my husband led me to safety, my legs were shaking and I knew at any moment I was going to pass out. The same people that did nothing to help as we were being attacked ran to our side. The grounds keeper for the garden finally arrived on a golf cart and asked if we needed anything. Of course my husband hollered for the police and ambulance to be called. It's funny what goes through your mind. I watched as one woman offered to hold Mister while my husband helped me and watched in amusement as she held my sweet little 3 lb. baby like a sack of potatoes, the thought that my shirt was torn to shreds didn't matter, the thought of seeing the exposed muscle in my arm didn't matter. I still held Prissy in my arms and each time I touched her, she screamed. I realized Rocky wasn't with us. My first thought was that he was dead near the pond, then I heard someone ask if we had another dog. Normally, when he is frightened he runs away and the only way he will come to you is if you whistle the theme song from The Andy Griffin Show. But this day, we hollered for him and he came directly to me, jumped in the golf cart that I was sitting on, scared to death.
"Where was the angel", I asked. " Where was the man that saved my life"? He was there within a few minutes and told me he had to kill the dog that attacked me. He had to drown him in the pond. I vaguely remember asking his name and thanking him for helping me. I have never felt pleasure at knowing something was dead, especially an animal. I'm the type of person that cries when a horse falls during a western movie. But this day, I was glad. I wished I would have been the one that had the pleasure of killing this dog. It was very strange, everything was moving in slow motion and as I sat there waiting for the ambulance and police to come, my angel disappeared. He was gone.
I was taken to the hospital where I received 25 stitches to my arm and numerous bumps and bruises. I was a very, very lucky person and I know that. It could have been so much worse and I am so thankful. While I was at the hospital, my husband was at the vet with our pups. I thought the nightmare was over but it wasn't. My husband came to the hospital and told me the vet checked all of the dogs and they were fine, that some hair was gone and they were just "bruised" and would be sore. Immediately, I knew something wasn't right. I knew it had to be worse. No small dog like ours could sustain that type of attack and not have injuries. I was hopeful that was all it was, but I just knew. The pups were still in the car while my husband waited for me. When I was released from the hospital, as soon as I got in the car, Mister, the smallest started screaming. As I tried to pick him up I noticed blood everywhere. His side and leg was ripped open. Somehow, the vet missed it. HOW? How in the world could a reputable vet miss something like that? Within minutes we were on our cell phone with another vet, me with my arm in a sling and hospital scrubs, we made it to the other vet where Mister had to have surgery and they weren't sure he would make it. They said he had never made a sound earlier. I guess he was in shock.
Fortunately, Mister survived. We all survived. We found out later, the pit bull that attacked us weighed more than 65 lb.. and had three inches of muscle around his neck. He was also UN-neutered.
After several trips to the doctor myself and the vet for the pups, we've survived physically. Emotionally, I'm still working on it. I entered therapy a couple of months later after sleepless nights, and when I do sleep, nightmares prevail. My therapist says I have post traumatic stress syndrome. I call it......SSOPBs.....or Scared shitless of Pit Bulls.
I did find my angel. I got his number from the police and have talked to him several times. Maybe one day I can repay him for his act of courage. I often wondered why he disappeared that day and later learned he had taken his children to the car and when he returned I was already gone to the hospital. I am so thankful for this man. I know if it weren't for him, I'd be dead. Of all the people in the park that day, he and my husband were
the only ones that stepped up to the plate. They are both truly my heroes.
There had been alot of speculation that my angel was also the owner of the pit bull. I'm glad to tell you that - no, it was not his dog. He was investigated throughly by law inforcement to the extent that his landlord and neighbors were questioned. This man played football for San Diego State Univ. and his brother plays pro football. His mother is the city historian where they live and I have talked to her numerous times. We have all been horrified that he was ever under suspicion, but fortunately, this family understands that the media will always take something good and try to make something bad out of it.
The next few pages are devoted to my babies. Pictures of them, then and now.