Synthia Watson is recovering at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite after the Friday attack, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported.
Synthia and her grandmother were returning home from a shopping trip when the child wandered into a yard to play with the dog, authorities said.
Kerrick said the girl petted Tank, the 3-year-old dog, through a fence and opened the latch on the gate, allowing the animal to get out.
Ms Kerrick, who tried to act as a shield by throwing herself over Synthia, was also injured in the attack but she is recovering at home.
"All I could do was hold my arms over her head and my head down over her and tell her to be quiet."
"Every time she made a sound he came back for her," she added. "He ripped her scalp off and flung it into the middle of the yard."
Three-fifths of the child’s scalp were recovered but 40 per cent will have to be replaced with skin grafts, reported WRBL News 3.
"I just wish I could have done more to protect her," said her grandmother, Sherry Kerrick, 72.
Synthia has had a blood transfusion and she could receive skin grafts on Tuesday, Kerrick said.
The child was able to speak with her grandmother Sunday morning.
"I told her over the phone that I loved her and everything," Kerrick said. "It's hard."
(Ledger Enquirer - Nov 14, 2011)
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