It has been a lot of work and a lot of medical bills, but he is optimistic. He is up and moving around.
“I think I have full range of motion in my ankle, but there is a lot of scar tissue,” he said.
That scar tissue and pain has him compensating to favor the injured ankle, something that his physical therapist is working with him to overcome. A previous injury doesn’t help the problem.
Godines suffered a 23-inch laceration to his left leg and a bite wound to the hip May 4 when he took a neighbor child back to her home at 2124 Frontier St. after she wandered to his.
Godines, who has an adult special-needs daughter who lives with him and his wife, noticed the young girl at the neighbor’s home about two weeks before and suspected that she also was special needs.
The girl, about 12, wandered through his front yard and into his backyard on that Friday afternoon, and he took her back to her home, where a pit bull named Chevo began throwing itself against the front door after he rang the doorbell.
The dog broke through the door and bit Godines’ ankle.
The dog’s owner, a visitor at the home, pulled the dog off Godines and called 911. His shin bone was exposed and he was hospitalized as his temperature spiked.
He continued to struggle to fight off infection in his early recovery, he said. Initially, he went to “wound therapy” at Longmont United Hospital, where doctors would remove debris to try to encourage the wound to heal. It has, but the resulting scar tissue around his Achilles tendon is tough and difficult to work through and he has had noticeable atrophy to his calf muscle.
“It certainly doesn’t look like the right leg,” Godines said.
The dog that attacked Godines was euthanized at the Longmont Humane Society, where he was surrendered shortly after the attack.
Godines’ insurance has paid for his treatment for the most part. He did fall considerably behind on projects at home.
“I got my summer stolen from me,” he said. “We were going to start some projects the next day.”
He said he is not skittish around dogs, but he is quite aware of them and their personalities. He caught the end of the movie “Flashdance” recently and noticed the main character’s dog was a pit bull. He said he understands that the way they are raised plays significantly into their behavior.
“They have very powerful looks and they certainly have my respect.”
(The Durango Herald - Nov 4, 2012)
