Laura Donaldson and her now 6-year-old daughter, Elsie, sat down with KVAL News on Saturday for a follow up story into their healing process.
"This is my daughter Elsie, she was bit by a pit bull here 6 and a half years ago,” Laura said.
You can hardly tell, looking at elsie now, but at just nine months old, her tiny face had to be stitched back together.
“Elsie was just learning to like pull herself up at the time, and I think that's what happened … she grabbed him to get up and he just snapped at her.
After the incident In 2007, KVAL News talked to Elsie’s father, L. J. Donaldson, who said the pit bull that bit his daughter belonged to a friend. The dog, named Lokey, was euthanized after the attack.
"It was terrible when you know i had to tell people she was bit by a pit bull and the way they looked at me for you know allowing that to happen,” Laura said.
Laura says pit bulls get a bad reputation, but Lokey was a good dog and is missed.
“This piece of her tongue, right here, is missing,” Laura said, gesturing to her daughter’s tounge. “As a ten month old that was a third of her tongue.”
Now growing up, Elsie has been asking questions about the bite marks on her face. On Saturday, her mother finally showed her the first story we ran.
While Elsie's wounds have healed, her mother hopes she knows the scars she's left with aren’t bad ones.
"I'm glad you can't remember… I really am” Laura told her daughter. “It was scary for all of us to remember."
(KVAL - June 2, 2013)
