Natasha Campbell says it happened in Grand Island but now the young woman has to live back at home in Council Bluffs because she can't perform most day to day tasks.
"I'm a dog lover. I have three pit bulls and an English Mastiff at home," she told WOWT 6 News.
Campbell has never feared being around man's best friend. That has somewhat changed in recent days.
"I just think any dog's capable of it."
Campbell was dog-sitting for a friend. She tells us she’s known the animal for years.
"Ten minutes before he [attacked] me he was giving me love and being really nice," she said.
It was on the third and final day of caring for the Siberian Husky she says the dog just turned on her.
"He just came and grabbed onto my wrist and started shaking it really bad."
Now her survival instincts were kicking in. "He pulled me over and my face was right in his face. He let go for just a second and I ran out the door. I closed the screen door and he was right there at it and jumped at it.”
When she was safely outside of the home and away from the dog, the severity of her injuries began to sink in. "I could see the bone in my left hand."
Campbell was soon rushed to get emergency operations on her now crushed bones and damaged muscles.
It's unclear if all of the physical therapy in the world will be enough to heal Campbell’s hand completely. She says her physicians are not very optimistic her right hand will ever get back to 100% functionality.
She fears missing out on things she loves to do. "Just the normal things like walking my dogs."
The avid bowler with a love for shooting guns is also out of work for months. She knows with the love and support she's received that life will go on.
"I'm young, I'll heal. It'll be a memory one day just…not yet."
This Saturday a benefit will be held at Dan & Jami’s Railway Bar and Grill from 3-7 p.m. to help pay for Campbell’s expenses.
Campbell’s family says a report was filed about the dog’s attack with the Humane Society at the hospital.
(WOWT - March 28, 2017)
