Teenager too scared to sleep after dog attack

Youngster going through counselling after being bitten 16 times

A Fife schoolgirl who thought she was going to die as she was savaged by a dog is now too scared to sleep.

Ellie Palfrey was bitten 16 times by an American akito as she bounced on a trampoline in her garden in Methil with her eight-year-old cousin.

She was trying to distract the dog away from the youngster when it pounced on her.

She spent four days in hospital, where she had to have two operations to clean and stitch the wounds on her arm and back.

The 13-year-old is now going through counselling to help recover from her ordeal.

The akito, named Chaos, chewed through a wooden fence to get from a neighbouring garden to where the girls were playing.

It then ripped holes in the trampoline and, as terrified Ellie ran towards the house in a desperate bid to distract it away from her cousin, it grabbed her from behind and dragged her round the garden.

She only managed to escape when a horrified neighbour in Lomond Gardens managed to corner the snarling animal with a broomstick.

Ellie’s mum Carley, 50, said: “She really has been very, very brave. She’s keeping smiling through the painkillers.

“She’s had loads of visitors and presents and the adrenaline is keeping her going but she can’t go to sleep for playing it over and over in her head.”

Ellie, who is due to start third year at Levenmouth Academy after the summer holiday, said she knew she would have to run “really fast” to get away from the dog.

“It grabbed me from behind and started dragging me about by my back. I thought I was going to die.”

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland confirmed a 23-year-old man had been arrested and charged in relation to the incident last Thursday.

“A 13-year-old girl sustained injuries to her back and arm,” she said.

“She was taken to Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, for treatment and was later released.

“A report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal. The matter has also been referred to Fife Council’s dog warden.”

Pictures: George McLuskie. Ellie Palfrey and her mum Carle and dad Michael at home in Methil after she was attacked by a dog. Below: her injuries.