Ray Nichols, 54, said Tuesday, Jan. 29, outside his mother’s house on a dirt road in the Pedley area that his mother is battling infections at Riverside Community Hospital.
On Jan. 17, two pit bulls got out of their fenced yard on 54th Street and attacked Nichols after she had placed a letter in the corner mail box. The son who lives with her, Gary Nichols, 55, kicked the dogs until they scattered.
Waly Nichols suffered two fist-sized bites on her right calf and bites on her arms and head. Doctors plan skin grafts after the infections subside, Ray Nichols said.
The dogs were euthanized and the owner, Juan Ortiz, was cited by Riverside County Animal Services for allowing his dogs to get out and for failure to license the dogs, give them rabies shots and implant microchips. No criminal charges are pending. Ortiz expressed remorse the day of the attack.
“I’m a big animal lover, but there is a responsibility that comes with owning animals,” Ray Nichols said. He said he believes owners of potentially dangerous pets should watch them more closely.
He said his mother is “very much against suing people,” but others have encouraged the family to seek compensation from the dogs’ owner. The family hasn’t decided what it will do. Medicare is paying his mother’s bills, he said.
Waly Nichols came to the United States from Germany in the 1930s, Ray Nichols said. She has been a nurse and a professional photographer. She still enjoys photographing flowers and teddy bears and writing uplifting, Christian-themed stories. Nichols attends Harvest Christian Fellowship Church in Riverside every Sunday.
Her recovery has been uneven, with good days and bad.
“It’s taken a lot longer than they thought at the start,” Gary Nichols said.
Ray Nichols thanked those who are keeping his mother in their thoughts.
“I can see the pain that she’s going through, and as soon as you bring it up that people are praying for you, it brings a smile to her face,” he said. “I definitely know that’s where she gets her strength.”
Nichols’ recovery can be monitored at a website, walynichols.com, where visitors can leave messages in a guestbook.
(pe.com - January 29, 2013)
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