DOG CHEWS OFF WOMAN’S HAND
A WOMAN needed lifesaving surgery after a crazed 14-stone rescue dog “gnawed” her hand off.
Sue Scarlett feared she could be killed as the beast clamped its jaws on her and looked down to see her severed hand lying in a pool of blood after the attack.
The 64-year-old care home nurse was helping a pal clean out kennels when the crossbreed went for her.
Sue was in a run next to the field where the dogs exercised and it put its head through the fence and bit her.
She said it “gnawed” her arm, adding: “I knew if he got into the kennel
ORDEAL Sue he would kill me. After what seemed like hours my husband heard me and tried to pull the dog away.
“I remember thinking I would have a few broken bones when he Firefighters examine patrol cars finished. But I looked down and saw my right hand lying on the concrete in a pool of blood.”
A friend battled to free Sue and eventually the dog loosened its grip enough for her to escape.
Sue, of Wisbech, Cambs, said: “As a nurse, I knew I was in big trouble. I told my husband he needed to put on a tourniquet, which he did using his jacket. My friend and my husband held my arm in the air to try and prevent more blood loss until a paramedic took over.”
Sue was airlifted from the site in Peterborough to Addenbrooke’s Hospital and had emergency surgery. Efforts to reattach her hand failed but she said: “Without the swift action of the air ambulance crew I would not be here today.”
Sue, off work since the attack last October, is now fundraising for the East Anglian Air Ambulance. The male dog was put down after the horror.