Dog attack changes girl’s life forever
‘I will learn to tie shoe laces and do my hair’
The mother of the 12-year-old girl who lost her arm after being bitten by a pitbull says life has changed since the attack.
Pinky* spoke to Sowetan yesterday just after her daughter, who is doing grade 6, had finished her exam.
“Everything has changed. I have had to teach her to do a lot of things by herself now that she has one arm.
“She is slowly learning to bath herself and cook. She can make a sandwich but cooking a quick meal for herself is still a challenge.
“She wants to go to boarding school next year, so I am preparing her for that ... it is a huge adjustment that we have had to make,” said Pinky.
In October 2019, her daughter, who was nine, was walking with her cousin when a neighbour’s pitbull attacked her. She suffered serious injuries on her leg and face and lost her arm.
The Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals took the pitbull from the owner and his other dogs and they were put down.
Pinky said her daughter still struggles with trauma.
“When it is raining she becomes quiet and one can tell that it reminds her of the day of the attack because it was raining. She used to play netball which she can no longer do. She still goes to the netball court with her friends because she loved the sport.
“In the past she did not want to talk about it but now she has become more open about the incident. Last month she told me that she was able to pass the spot where she was attacked, something she used to struggle with. She did not walk on that street at all,” Pinky said.
Pinky said a case was opened at a local police station but nothing came out of it. She said the owner came and tried to offer the family R1,500 for their suffering but they rejected it as they felt he was being disrespectful.
The beautiful and tall girl is assertive and has regained her confidence. Her school raised money and donated an artificial arm to her.
“There are just two thing I cannot do by myself at the moment. I can neither fasten my shoe laces nor do my hair. But I think I will learn over time. I want to be independent,” said the girl.
She said when she grows up she wants to become a lawyer in order “to fight for justice”.
Pinky supports the call for pit bulls to be banned in the country.
“Those dogs must not be found in society. They are dangerous and have killed children. No-one should have them in their home,” she said.
*Not her real name