UNITED KINGDOM -- Heroic grandfather Dave Guess has told of the moment he rescued his grandson Keiron from the jaws of a crazed dog, as the two-year-old remained in a coma in hospital last night.
The 49-year-old rushed to the toddler’s aid after hearing his screams from the back garden of a house in Swanage Walk, Moredon, at around 6pm on Sunday.
As he tried, along with homeowner Garfield King, to haul Keiron to safety, the dog, thought to be a Staffordshire bull terrier-type breed, locked its jaws around his arm leaving Dave with puncture wounds.
The 49-year-old rushed to the toddler’s aid after hearing his screams from the back garden of a house in Swanage Walk, Moredon, at around 6pm on Sunday.
As he tried, along with homeowner Garfield King, to haul Keiron to safety, the dog, thought to be a Staffordshire bull terrier-type breed, locked its jaws around his arm leaving Dave with puncture wounds.
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| Grandpa Dave Guess |
Police were called and after a search seized the dog, which was later destroyed, while the tot, whose left ear and nose were severed in the attack, was airlifted to hospital.
Keiron has since been transferred to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and is on a ventilator in an induced coma after surgeons worked for 10 hours to reconstruct his face.
His parents Anthony, 23, and pregnant Stacey, 22, are by his bedside.
Speaking of the attack, Dave said: “I went out the door to get something from the van because I’m doing a new bathroom for them and then Anthony said he couldn’t see Keiron. I could hear screaming and thought he was inside so I ran in and then the neighbours came over and said ‘the dog’s got the boy’.
“I got round there and Gary [Garfield] was trying to get him out of the jaws. I started kicking the dog and then Gary managed to get him out and I took Keiron off him.
“The dog jumped up and was hanging off my arm, trying to get at Keiron. His face was split apart and covered in blood – he was just mumbling ‘Grampy, help’.
“Then the ambulance turned up within minutes and then the helicopter. I handed him over and went looking for the dog.”
The youngster’s other grandfather, Shaun Leonard, praised emergency services and said the family initially feared for the worst.
The 46-year-old said: “I saw him just after it happened and before they put him in the ambulance.
“Dave managed to pull Keiron onto his shoulders but the dog was still jumping up at him. He undoubtedly saved Keiron’s life.
“It was touch and go – he was in a bad way. But the police and paramedics were brilliant, I can’t fault them.”
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| Pit bull owner Garfield King |
Grandmother Michaela Drury, 40, said Keiron was always smiling and the family hoped he would make a recovery, although they would have to wait until a further operation on Friday to learn how much his eyesight will be affected.
“He always been a smiler – he’d be cheeky and dance around all the time. I whispered to him in the hospital ‘I cannot wait to see your little smile again’,” she said.
“He’s scared of dogs, even in the street he would hide away and worry they would bite him. There’s no way he would have gone to pet that dog.
“The eye surgeon has said fingers crossed and they don’t know how much his sight will be affected.”
Mr King, whose son is believed to have owned the dog, told reporters: “I was watching the Jubilee on the television and I heard squeaking and went outside.
“The dog looked like he was playing with something. I thought it was a dolly at first - then I saw it was a baby. I’m still in shock. If you’re a parent you have to look after your children 24 hours a day. If it wasn’t a dog, it could’ve been a paedophile.”
(From the Daily Mail article) In September last year, a police team raided Mr King’s address, and an officer was bitten by a dog after the animal had been Tasered.
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| Photo of Mr. King's pit bulls, taken during police raid last year. A police officer was attacked. |
It is believed that the police officer who went to the house after the mauling of Keiron was the same police officer who was bitten on the hand by the dog last year.
During the raid a local newspaper photographer took a photograph of two dogs jumping at the glass door. It is not known if the picture features the dog which attacked Keiron.
After the raid, Police Constable Mark Giles from Wiltshire Police said: ‘The owner was trying to control the two of them but they were trying to fight each other and get at us.
‘I had to deploy my Taser to try to prevent them from attacking but one leapt up and bit me even after I hit it in the mouth.’
(This is Wiltshire - June 6, 2012)
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