FLORIDA -- When Lakewood Park resident Karen Lufkin heard the horrific sound of her neighbor's child being mauled by a dog, she didn't think twice about what to do.
Barefoot and in house clothes, Lufkin, 54, bolted into the face of danger, risking her own life to save the life of the 8-year-old girl.
"I looked over the fence and the bulldog had her head in its mouth. He was shaking her like a rag doll," Lufkin said. "It's a scream you don't forget.
"It was total instinct. There was no choice in the matter," said a tearful Lufkin, who works as an office manager at Gloria Estefan's Costa d'Este Beach Resort in Vero Beach.
Lufkin also never thought she'd be recognized for the selfless act.
On Thursday, Lufkin was honored for the heroic act that took place on July 26.
Sheriff Ken Mascara presented her with the Life Saving award during the agency's quarterly awards ceremony.
"It's humbling and I'm grateful to the sheriff," Lufkin said. "But when someone says, 'you're a hero,' I think of war heroes and the sheriff's deputies who put their lives in the line of fire."
Lufkin also recalled the horror of that summer day.
"I put her in the bathtub and wrapped her in a towel," said Lufkin, who had to call 911 for the child's panicked mother. "She kept telling me, 'I don't want to die.'"
Lufkin didn't know the woman or child's names, and they have since moved away, she said.
Lufkin's husband, Mark, 56, who owns Boomer's Place, a restaurant in north Fort Pierce, said his wife is lucky to be alive.
"I could have lost my wife," he said. "She's a true hero."
She needed five stitches on her face and hasn't regained feeling in parts of her chin. While trying to rescue the girl, the 90-pound American bulldog lunged for her throat.
Lufkin used a baseball bat to try to distract the dog, who had the child's head and later her stomach locked in its jaws. The dog was quarantined by animal control and destroyed 10 days after the attack.
The girl was treated and released after a brief hospital stay.
Mascara said St. Lucie County is a better place because of residents like Lufkin.
"Thank you for getting involved and saving a child's life," Mascara told Lufkin. "That is awesome."
(TCPalm - Nov 10, 2011)
