GEORGIA -- A 5-year-old boy remains in critical condition after he was mauled by a pit bull. Now his neighbor is being credited as a hero.
It was a few barks, a yelp and then a plea for help that caught Eddie Deeb's attention on Friday afternoon. Deeb was in his home on Ousley Avenue in north Macon, when he heard a scuffle next door. He looked across the yard, outside his kitchen window, and what he saw was horrifying.
"I could see arms and legs, flying kind of like a cartwheel thing," Deeb said.
His next door neighbor's, Charles and Teresa Gay's dog, was attacking a small child. Deeb immediately sprung into action, ripping open his neighbors' gate grabbing the 70-pound pit bull and pulling it off the kid. When he lifted the animal up, 5-year-old Anthony Ivey's face was covered in blood, the skin was ripped off of his legs and his scalp was missing.
"The dog was behind him, and had his entire head all the way down to this...in his mouth," Deeb said, "and he was just pulling and pulling."
Ivey was Rosemary Armstrong's great-great-great grandchild. She was watching the children, while cleaning the Gay's home. For several years, she's worked as the family's housekeeper.
"They have always been good people to me," Armstrong said over the phone.
On Friday, while Armstrong was cleaning, Charles Gay walked the boys in the backyard to play.
"He said he wanted to go outside," Gay said.
Charles said the dog was a loving family pet and belonged to his wife. He said until Friday, he'd never seen it act like that.
"I don't know, I just don't know what happened," Gay said from his front porch. Gay would not comment on camera about the incident, but said things just "got out of hand".
Shortly after the kids went outside, Armstrong said, her oldest grandchild came running.
"He said 'grandma, grandma, the dog is eating my baby brother," Armstrong said.
According to Armstrong, her and Gay tried to stop the pit bull but couldn't control the animal. That's when Deeb stepped in.
"If it wasn't for him, my child would've been dead," Armstrong said.
As for Ivey, Armstrong said the child is still in very critical condition. Over the weekend, he was flown to Boston for another procedure. She said doctors are working diligently to replace his scalp and save his vision in his left eye.
The Gay's dog was put down, and Charles Gay was arrested and charged with Cruelty to Children in the 2nd Degree.
(41 NBC News - Mar 17, 2013)
