“I thought this dog was going to kill my son, we were really scared”: the mother of the child bitten in the face reflects on the attack

Hugo a été sérieusement mordu à la joue. ML – DR

Ce lundi 26 août, vers 21 h 30, à la fête votive de Saint-Georges-d’Orques, un enfant de 7 ans a été attaqué par un border collie. Sa maman témoigne.

How is your son doing?

Hugo is doing better. He is recovering from his emotions. Tuesday was complicated because he was tired and traumatized by what he had experienced. The night was long because we left the hospital at 4:30. The doctors wanted to see him again for a skin graft on his cheek but, in the end, they're going to leave him like that, it seems to be healing well.

Hugo was bitten violently on the ear. ML – DR

However, since it was a dog bite, he was on antibiotics for ten days to prevent any infection. They gave him two loose stitches on his cheek and, in the end, he didn't have his ear sewn up. He has a nice scratch under his eye and several bruises. In the end, he came out of it well because at the time, I thought that this dog was going to kill my son. We were really scared.

Where were you when he was attacked?

We were at the Saint-Georges-d'Orques votive festival, at the stage where the ball is held. We were eating. My two children and my niece were with us. They were playing quietly on the ground in front of us when this dog arrived, very slowly, limping. He approached them.

We have three dogs at home and Hugo didn't know if he could pet him or not. We told him no. And it was when he got up to go back to play that, suddenly, the dog threw itself on him, grabbed him and didn't let go.

You must have been scared?

I fell off the bench and started screaming for someone to come help him, saying: “He's going to kill my son”. He was on Hugo, I could hear my son screaming but I couldn't see him anymore, the dog was slumped on him on the ground. He shook it around and dragged it.

The border collie didn't want to let go. ML – DR

It was crazy. We kicked him but nothing worked. Fortunately, a restaurant owner and a plainclothes police officer, seated next to you, intervened, otherwise I don't know how this story would have ended.

They were the ones who managed to free your son?

Exactly. They jumped on the dog. They brought him to the ground. The animal wouldn't let him, he growled but in the end the policeman pinned his head to the ground and he let go. Then he muzzled his mouth with a belt. This lasted a while before he locked him up.

And your son ?

We immediately picked him up and took him to the festival committee where he was taken care of while waiting for the firefighters. He was bleeding everywhere. His face was covered in blood and his t-shirt was all red. Then we left in an ambulance for the emergency room at Lapeyronie hospital. He underwent a battery of tests before coming out in the middle of the night.

You knew this dog?

No. But he had a strange attitude. The fact that he was limping, that he had his head down and he had a dark look. I did some research later on Facebook and I discovered that he had been wandering around the streets of the village for a good part of the day.

The owners have been found. They are in Saint-Georges and were acting as a foster family for this dog that I was told belongs to an association. I don't know more. He would have escaped them when the bomb at the bullfight exploded.

Have you filed a complaint?

Yes, this Tuesday afternoon at the Saint-Georges-d’Orques police station. They told me that an investigation was open but I don't know more. I'm not very up to date. I'm advised to get a lawyer and contact my insurance company.

I'm also going to have my son see a psychologist so that he can have follow-up. He was never afraid of dogs but with what happened to him, I'm afraid he'll develop trauma.

I subscribe to read the rest