Joseph Finley says avoiding death was the only thing going through his mind during the terrifying ordeal along Lake Michigan which lasted several minutes and almost cost him his life.
From his hospital bed, he said the dogs were constantly 'yanking and biting, tearing and pulling and gnawing at my body like I was hamburger.'
'I couldn't believe this was happening to me. The only thing in my mind was if this is happening to me, the only thing I can do is survive.
'So in my mind: survive, survive, ' he told NBC Chicago.
Passersby tried to beat the dogs off him with baseball bats, but the brutal attack only ended when police officers arrived and shot the animals dead.
Mr Finley was taken to Stroger Hospital in a critical condition and doctors found they would not be able to save Finley's left foot as there was too much damage to the soft tissue that it affected his kidneys.
'It was a rough go for several days. He was on a breathing machine. He was very sick. He got a lot of blood. I mean, his injury was nearly equivalent to stepping on a landmine,' Dr Andrew Dennis told NBC Chicago.
Dennis said Mr Finley, who also suffered serious injuries to his right arm, had made remarkable progress in the two weeks since the attack.
So much so that doctors feel comfortable exchanging Finley's environment from the trauma unit to an area rehabilitation center.
Mr Finley said he was just about to begin the third lap of his run along Lake Michigan at Rainbow Beach Park when he noticed the dogs.
He tried to maneuver around them, he said, but they attacked.
'These were not just regular dogs. These dogs attacked in a way of dogs that have been trained to kill,' he said, describing how the pair of dogs grabbed each foot and seemed to work in a coordinated effort to take him down.
Jimmy Johnson, 57, the owner of the two pit bulls was issued tickets for failing to restrain the dogs and not having city dog licenses, according to the Chicago Tribune,
Johnson, who lives a few blocks from the where the attack happened after his dogs apparently escaped through an unlocked gate, faces fines of $30 to $200 for failing to license each dog, and $300 up to $10,000 for failing to restrain each dog, the Chicago Animal Care and Control told the Tribune.
He is scheduled to appear for an administrative court hearing in March.
(Daily Mail UK - January 18, 2012)
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