GIFT FOR MOM
Boy mauled by dog while saving siblings gets a dream trip on road to recovery
A LITTLE BOY savagely mauled by a pit bull in his Brooklyn home last year while trying to protect his younger siblings, and who’s endured extensive facial reconstruction surgery, is headed to Disney World — courtesy of a stranger moved by his extraordinary courage.
“I feel so excited. It’s my first time I’ve been to Disney World. I’m excited to see all the characters that are there,” Jeremiah Rivera, 6, told the Daily News. “It’s my first time on an airplane.”
It’s a dream come true and a much-deserved respite for the youngster, who spent five months in the hospital and rehab after the near-fatal attack Feb. 17, 2017.
Jeremiah’s father, Joel Rivera, had been dog-sitting two pit bulls at the family’s home on Riverdale Ave. near Georgia Ave. in East New York. The dogs somehow broke out of their cage, and one of them charged at Jeremiah.
Neighbors had said Jeremiah was trying to protect his younger brother and sister, who were 3 and 1 at the time.
The pit bull tore off the left side of Jeremiah’s face, and lying unconscious after the attack, the little boy lost two pints of blood. Medics rushed him to Brookdale Hospital, where he momentarily flat-lined, his mom, LaToya White, told The News.
He was transferred to Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center in Queens to be treated by specialists, and later to a rehabilitation facility.
Teddy Atlas, a longtime boxing trainer and commentator, read about Jeremiah’s story in the Daily News, and said he was struck by the boy’s natural-born courage, his getting up off the canvas. Atlas, who’s the president the Dr. Theodore Atlas Foundation, decided to give the Disney World trip to the family.
“I wanted him to know he has friends,” said Atlas, 62. “I know that sounds strange because I don’t know the kid, but I wanted him to know that there were people out there that saw him the same.”
“You still matter. It’s not about what you look like. It’s what people feel about you,” he added. “He’s a special kid, and a special kid like that should be looked out for.”
White, 35, recalled getting a call from someone at the foundation.
“At the time, Jeremiah was still at the hospital. They said they heard about what happened to him and they’d like to do something for him when he got out of the hospital,” she said. “I just want to tell (Atlas) I appreciate he reached out and is doing this for Jeremiah. It warmed my heart that somebody saw his story and wanted to do something just because.”
It’s been a grueling journey for Jeremiah, who underwent numerous skin grafts. Doctors took skin from his chest to form a left cheek, and took skin from his arm and thigh for the facial reconstruction. “What was bad was when they had to do bandage change. It hurt a lot,” White said.
And there’s still a long road ahead. Next month, he’ll undergo radiation in hopes of reducing the scarring around his face, and re-shaping the cartilage of his nose. At the end of the year, he’ll have another lip surgery.
Nonetheless, in September, the tough first-grader faced his intense fears of being teased, and went back to school.
“That was a very difficult conversation to have with him,” White said. “It still bothers him, that he looks different.”
“The only thing I’ve been telling him is, it’s okay to look different, you’re still handsome, you’re smart, you’ll still have friends. I tell him it’s OK to stand out,” she said. “Everyone is different in their own way. As long as I keep being honest and telling him everything will be OK, it eases him.”
“He recently started showing signs of PTSD,” she said. “He remembers it all. He remembers the dog dragging him, he remembers screaming. He says, ‘Remember when the dog bit me and I died?’ It shocked me, because I didn’t know what he remembered and how he was going to react.” Both pit bulls have since been put down, White said. The devoted mom said that getting through the past 15 months brought out an inner strength she didn’t know she had. “Even though it’s bad, I learned a lot from it. I learned about myself, I learned about my kids. I learned I’m stronger than I thought I was,” she said. “Jeremiah is much stronger than I thought he was. He gets frustrated but I just have to let him be him and tell the truth.”
“He is very resilient,” she added. “It’s been a really hard year. I would rather anything else.”
“Jeremiah deserves a break… So I would like to tell (Atlas) from the bottom of my heart, thank you,” she said.
Jeremiah, his mother, and his two siblings head to Orlando on Tuesday.
Atlas said he was struck by Jeremiah’s instinct and perseverance.
“That’s what fighting is all about,” said Atlas. “Facing difficult things, facing something scary and finding a way to overcome that.”