On May 3rd, her mother finally agreed, but within a matter of seconds after getting to her friend's house, a mother's worst nightmare happened right in front of Leslie's eyes.
Leslie Murray said, "I thought she was going to die. I absolutely thought she was going to die. Her throat was cut and I thought she wasn't going to make it."
Seven-year-old Avah Murray was so excited for her first play date. She ran out of the car to find her friend before her mother could even get to the front door.
"I went over to just pet the dog. I didn't even pet the dog yet and he just came out by the fire by the tree and he just jumped on me and that's when he attacked me," said Avah.
"Big, bigger than her. It was just a really big black dog. It was a rescue animal," said Leslie.
The mutt ripped open Avah's throat and as the seven-year-old describes it, "tried to eat her eye."
Not exactly the first play date Avah had been dreaming of.
She says she wanted to "Color and do fun things."
She already had to have multiple surgeries and plenty more are in her future, leaving her mother struggling to pay off the unexpected medical bills.
"They have no homeowner's insurance and they rent the property. I don't know too many of the details. They haven't been very forthcoming and we've been trying to deal with her emotions at this point," said Leslie.
But Monday night, the 'Moms are Making a Difference' team, along with the owner of Nicolino's restaurant, were ready to help out.
Nikki Green said, "We're just a bunch of local moms. We started this about three years ago. We do these benefits to try and come together for the family and try to help them."
And little Miss Avah says all the love was just too sweet.
"I feel happy and grateful that they're all here to support me," said Avah.
Avah says she hasn't been able to go back to school full time just yet because she's still gets nervous being away from home.
The dog was put in quarantine for 10 days and as far as Leslie knows, is back at the friend's house.
She's hoping to put the entire nightmare behind her so hopefully one day Avah will want to have the play date every seven-year-old deserves, again.
If you'd like to make a donation to help offset medical costs, you can send checks made out to "Moms are making a Difference" to:
Moms are making a difference
241 Midline Road
Amsterdam, NY 12010
(YNN - June 10, 2013)
