Dog attack survivor, 50, who lost his arm, leg and EAR after he was viciously mauled by a dozen pit bulls reveals he is haunted by nightmares of the attack

MICHIGAN -- A man who miraculously survived a vicious attack by 12 pit bulls two months ago has revealed that he still suffers nightmares about that terrifying night.

Steve Constantine, 50, was left clinging to life after he went to feed a friend's dogs in Detroit, Michigan on the night of October 2 and the animals turned on him, shredding his limbs.

Speaking to the Detroit Free Press from hospital, he recounted what few details he can remember and said described the images that still haunt him.

Among them, he has a recurring dream of a black dog he fears will bite him, so he grabs the dog's jaw 'and I keep saying "Come on, quit it, quit it",' he said.

He recalled how he had been hanging out with a friend earlier that day but, after struggling to sleep, returned because he remembered someone had left a bag of dog food outside and he wanted to feed the dogs. But as he tried to open the bag, the dogs pounced.

'There was no streetlight, and it was a dark street and nobody around so I'm screwed,' he told the Free Press. 'I'm like, "Somebody help me", but who's going to hear me? I didn't see a soul.

'I just kept saying, "Please stop." I didn't know they were going to stop.'

 

 

 

 

Although he can remember very little, he said he has one vivid memory of one of the dogs 'calmly' licking his ankle as others attacked.

While he can't remember anyone helping him, he said that his rescuers later told him that they had to shoot one of the dogs but were worried about shooting any others in case they hit him too.

One 911 caller described the dogs as 'all over him'.

The 12 dogs were seized by police and destroyed.

Constantine was rushed to hospital, where he underwent multiple skin grafts to cover the bones in his right arm and leg. He has lost most of his leg below the knee, his arm and one of his ears.

 

Despite his horrifying ordeal, Constantine told the newspaper that he believes the attack happened for a reason: to reunite him with his family.

Before the attack, he had been missing for a year. He had previously lived in Warren, Michigan but was homeless so stayed with a friend - but when that friend lost his home, he had to move on.

He had been in Detroit for a year, and his family did not know where he was.

After one of his sisters read about the story, she realized it was her brother and contacted the hospital. Until then, he was a 'John Doe'.

He has now been reunited with his siblings.

'It's a good feeling being alive,' he said. 'There's moments when I'm barely myself. There's moments when I can barely function. And I'm insecure… but I do seem to make it back to this place where I am myself.'

He is uncertain what will happen to him but he said he hopes he can be independent. He hopes he will also be fitted with prosthetic limbs.

His sister, Cathy Hawley, previously told the Free Press that he had struggled with mental illness after he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his mid-20s and he had also been homeless.

Derrick (Butch) Felton

Derrick Felton, the dogs' owner and a friend of Constantine's, received five misdemeanor citations, and the case remains under investigation. Felton has claimed the number of dogs is a lie.

Constantine previously said that he believes Felton ran away while he was being attacked. 

(Daily Mail UK - Dec 11, 2014)

Earlier:

• Detroit man has his hands and feet ripped off in pit bull attack
• Police seek felony charge following dog attack
• Mauling victim: Dog owner ran instead of offering help