Eddy was attacked by two neighborhood dogs while scurrying to catch a school bus on the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 5. "I was running from them and I fell over something," Eddy recalled. "I couldn't get up... they were on top of me."
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| Eddy with hero Gabriela |
A Doberman Pinscher and a Rotweiller from the neighborhood were free from their yard and happened upon Eddy as he approached the bus stop.
"I see these dogs in their yard all the time," he said. "The Rotweiller is always tied up, but sometimes the Doberman is running free in the yard. This time, they were out."
Chavez was mauled by the two dogs and bitten severely about the head, neck and limbs. His torso was raked by claws.
"They were trying to kill me," Eddy said of the vicious attack.
Gabriela Ramos, 15, a Deming High School sophomore, witnessed the attack as she drove up to the bus stop on her way to school.
"I saw these dogs attacking this boy, so I grabbed my keys and jumped out of my car," said Ramos who is a Sgt. in the DHS JROTC Wildcat Battalion.
"I thought nobody was going to help me," said Eddy, as the dogs continue their attack for what seemed like an eternity, according to the boy.
Ramos rushed form her vehicle and armed with only her keys, proceeded to punch at the dogs' skulls with a key chain clutched in her palm and a key poking through her index and middle fingers.
"I just kept hitting, and hitting them, and they backed off long enough for me to tell him to run to my car," Ramos said.
The dogs were momentarily stunned, but began to focus on Ramos who had been bitten in the finger and below her knee cap and was bleeding.
"They came at me and were nipping at my legs," Ramos said. "I walked backwards to my car and drove Eddy to his house."
Luna County Sheriff's arrived and Eddy and Ramos were treated at Mimbres Memorial Hospital for bites and scratches. The dogs were captured and quarantined as a safety measure.
"What this girl did was save my son's life," said Gilbert Chavez, Eddy's father. Gilbert is a single parent to two sons. Eddy's older brother is Ray, 16.
"I think she did this because she is a sergeant and they look out for people all the time," Eddy said of his new hero. "I think we will be friends for a long time."
Ramos is in her second year of JROTC training at DHS and is also a member of the US Border patrol Explorers.
"Her heroism and bravery saved my boy's life," Chavez said. "I can't thank Gabriela enough."
Chavez went out into the business community and secured donations from local merchants and presented them to Ramos as a token of gratitude and appreciation.
"I can't describe what I felt that day," Ramos said of her train of thought during the rescue. "I just know when people ask me questions, it's not a good memory.
(Deming Headlight - Oct 20, 2011)
