Toddler suffers severe facial injuries in horrific dog attack

UNITED KINGDOM -- Toddler Keiron Guess is in hospital with horrific facial injuries after he was mauled by a dog at the weekend.

The incident happened in the back garden of a home in Swanage Walk, Moredon at 6pm on Sunday.

The two-year-old was attacked by the animal, believed to be a Staffordshire Bull Terrier from a neighbouring house, leaving him with a severed ear and nose.

Two air ambulances were flown to the scene along with two road ambulances, a rapid response unit and two doctors in what a spokeswoman for the Great Western Ambulance Service has described as a major trauma incident.

Keiron’s devastated granddad, Sean Leonard, 46, who saw the tot just minutes after the attack, claimed the dog leapt on the boy as he played in an alleyway near his home.

He was only saved when his other granddad, Dave Guess, heard his screams and rushed to his aid - suffering puncture wounds to his hands and arms from the dog.

Lorry driver Mr Leonard, who lives near Keiron, said: “He has injuries from his forehead right down to his chin - there were holes in his face. The dog also took a chunk out of the back of his head.

“His other granddad came to help him pretty quickly and he got bitten on the hand and arms. It had escaped from a garden nearby. He said the dog just kept coming back for more.

“He managed to pull Keiron onto his shoulders but the dog was still jumping up at him. He undoubtedly saved Keiron’s life.

“I saw him as he was about to get in the ambulance - he looked in a really bad way.”

Keiron, who lives with mum Stacey, scaffolder dad Anthony, and brother McKenzie, four, has undergone seven hours of emergency surgery and is now in a stable condition in hospital.

Mr Leonard said: “He’s been so brave. He is stable now and his parents are at his bedside.

“They are doing brilliantly - they are both young - but coping well.

“The whole community is in complete shock. Everyone pulled together really well.”

Keiron’s grandmother Michaela Drury, 40, said: “This should never have happened. He’s had surgery - they have reconstructed his nose - but they do not know how his eyes will be affected.

“They have tried to rebuild part of his ear too. He has scars all across his face. He was also bitten across the legs. He needs to breathe with the aid of a ventilator so they are thinking of moving him the Bristol Royal Infirmary.”

Neighbours said the dog was notorious in the area and had allegedly attacked people before.

Wiltshire Police said the dog was due to be destroyed yesterday.

A force spokesman said: “At approximately 6pm on Sunday, the two-year-old boy was found injured in a neighbour’s garden, after being attacked by a dog.

"A 49-year-old local man was also injured and received treatment at hospital for an injury to his arm which is not serious.

“The dog, believed to be a Staffordshire bull terrier type breed, was handed into police by the owner and will be destroyed later today. The owner’s are fully co-operating with the police.

“Officers are speaking to all parties involved to establish the full circumstances of the incident.”

Investigating officers have appealed for anyone with information about the attack to contact police on 101.

(This is Wiltshire - June 4, 2012)