Florida: Woman victim of vicious dog attack; doctor says she's lucky she didn't lose her foot

FLORIDA -- A couple was walking home from their weekly date night in Hollywood when a dog attacked. A neighbor later said his wife was almost a victim, too.

Cindy Laurenfant said the attack two weeks ago was not only physically painful, as she ended up in the hospital. It has also left her feeling traumatized.

"I have dreams every night about this dog attacking me," Laurenfant said.

Laurenfant has been recovering at Memorial Regional Hospital. The images of her wounds are graphic. Doctors said she is lucky she didn't lose her foot.

"I was screaming, it was the worst pain I'd ever felt after labor," Laurenfant said. "He had his teeth up against my foot, like he was ripping my foot off of my leg."

Laurenfant and her fiancé, Michael Keesee, were walking along North 28th Avenue near Fillmore Street in Hollywood, when the dog came out of nowhere. The vicious animal resembled a pit bull.

"I was going for field goals and I was getting no reaction out of this dog," Keesee said. "I wasn't getting a reaction from him. It was like the more I hit him, the more he clamped down on her."

Fernando Guzman lives near to where the attack took place. He said his wife and their dog were almost victims too.

"All of a sudden this pit bull comes out and she grabbed our yorkie and closed her eyes and the pit bull circled around and around," Guzman said.

Guzman said he is concerned -- especially for his six-year- old daughter. Keesee had a message for the dog owner: "Think about it, your dog attacked somebody - luckily it was an adult, it could be a child next time.

"I don't want this to happen to anybody else."

Beyond the bites, Laurenfant has been dealing with infections. The hospital bills are growing. They were close to $80,000 on Friday.

*WARNING GRAPHIC PHOTOS BELOW*

GoFundMe link: "Cindy's Dog Attack"
On 01/19/17 Cindy was attacked by a stray pit bull as we walked the 5 blocks home from our weekly pool date. She had open toe shoes on and she had to limp home with my assistance so that we could get her in the car and to ER.

We though it would be a routine surgery, rabies shots, tetanus shot and stitches....

Unfortunately we were wrong between the dog's dirty mouth and her foot touching the ground as I tried desperately to get her to the car she ended up with 3 bacteria and 2 fungus (one of which is still unknown) infections.

In a week's time she has had 4 surgeries with no sign of improvement. To make matters worse on us she had just started a new job which means insurance hadn't kicked in yet.

 

 

Doctors say she won't be out until after valentine's day, and after that she will have a private nurse 24 hrs a day for 6-8 weeks. After that there will be no weight bearing for 22-24 weeks and then physio and then back to the hospital for skin grafts. All this comes after they finally control infections.

Her medical bills is currently $30,000, this doesn't include the fees that will be accumulating for the next month.

I spend every night by her side wake and go to work and do it again over and over. We are on the verge of losing our home because I can't afford the bills alone and due to her being heavily medicated we can't get power of attorney. This was an awful accident that has left a young woman temporarily (maybe permanently) disabled.

To owners with large dogs please take the time to double check your fences and enclosure to make sure no one else suffers as my wife does. Its sad how an innocent evening filled with love has turned into a nightmare for us. I have also posted pictures of her foot and will update as I can.

(Local10 - Feb 4, 2017)