Woman risks her own life saving daughter from pit bull

MARYLAND -- Christal Wright was in the bathroom in her basement when she heard her 3-year-old daughter yell, “He's loose, he's loose!”

When she ran out, she saw her renter's 2-year-old pit bull Blue showing his teeth and growling at her daughter, Lily.

So Wright lifted her up, risking her own life to protect her daughter's. Blue latched onto her ankle, and eventually yanked her and flipped her to the ground.

“I thought, 'He's going to kill me in front of my child and then he's going to kill her,'” Wright said while holding back tears in her Baltimore home, just over the county line.

“I knew if I didn't do something that would have been it.”

She said she was scared for her life, but she did anything she could to protect Lily and herself. Wright said she controlled her breathing, kept calm and relaxed, which prevented the dog from becoming even more aggressive.

“I sucked it up, and smiled at my daughter and told her, 'Baby, it's OK, he's just being a bad boy right now,” she said. “It grabbed a hold of my face and had me by my ear. I moved along with him, punched him in the chest and he finally let go.”

Blue's owner, identified as Louis Curry by Baltimore City Animal Control, eventually heard Wright's yells and came down to the basement and took his dog away.

Blue and his owner had lived in the house for six months, and Blue was never aggressive during that time, Wright said. Lily was even playing with Blue about 45 minutes before the attack, she said.

“He never showed any kind of aggression, whatsoever,” Wright said.

But now she's had two surgeries and a blood transfusion — as well as crutches and bandages — that show a different side of Blue. Wright may have to undergo a third surgery and possibly a skin graph.

She's currently taking pain medications and antibiotics. Wright expects to receive extremely expensive medical bills that she can't afford.

But she said she's fortunate that she and her daughter are alive.

“I'm very grateful,” she said. “I thank God every day for whatever helped me through it.”

Baltimore City Animal Control euthanized Blue after a 10-day quarantine period, according to a spokesman. The cause of his aggressive behavior is unknown.

Wright has a warning to anyone else who allows a pit bull in their home.

“No matter how well you know your pet you really have to be careful,” she said. “These animals can turn. It's very evident they can turn at any time.”

(Capital Gazette - Mar 22, 2014)