“He was such a good dog too. I can’t believe that he did that,” says woman whose pit bull attacked her

CANADA -- A Scarborough woman’s act of kindness was recently repaid in full.

Back in April, Denise Grimes’ son’s friend needed a place to stay so she let him in her home.

That good deed may have saved her life.

Earlier this fall, Grimes was attacked by her pet pit bull. Her son’s friend Tyler Kelley, 17, rushed to her aid.

“I jumped on top of him, trying to choke him out,” Kelley said of the dog. “Then as I’m choking him out, we both tried to open his jaw.”

Grimes, 52, said her dog Stash got a hold of her ankle and was chewing on it for about three minutes.

“Tyler was on top of him...with his arm around his neck,” she added.

Grimes and Kelley eventually managed to open Stash’s jaw, and then Kelley held the dog while Grimes hobbled into her room.

“I threw the dog outside and just closed the door,” Kelley said. The teen then called 911.

“They tell me on the phone to bring Stash, the dog, inside, so he doesn’t attack the paramedics,” he said.

When the dog got back in, he attacked Grimes again, this time going for the neck.

“I grab him and take him and throw him in my room and lock him in there,” Kelley said.

Kelley ensured that Grimes’ ankle was wrapped up and that she was lying down.

“There’s a lot of blood everywhere,” he said. “The carpet was full of blood, her shoe was soaked in blood.”

Grimes was taken to Rouge Valley Centenary hospital where she underwent emergency surgery.

“The dog bit right through my bone in my ankle and tore the tendons, ligaments and muscle off,” she said.

“He was such a good dog too. I can’t believe that he did that.”

Stash was put down after the attack.

Grimes called Kelley her hero.

“We have a very special bond through all this,” she said. “I could never repay him for saving my life. He put his own life on the line for me.”

Kelley has been nominated for two civilian citations for his actions.

(Waterloo Record - Oct 25, 2013)