Home for Xmas ... baby boy mauled by mum’s dog
IT was feared baby James Davidson might not survive when, at only eight weeks old, he was mauled in his pram by his family’s dog.
But he looked the picture of health and happiness as he enjoyed his first Christmas – getting home just in time for Santa after days in hospital for major treatment.
James suffered a punctured artery along with damage to his airway in the attack, which left his ear almost severed.
His mother, Morven Davidson, 27, had turned her back for only ‘a matter of seconds’ when the family’s Patterdale terrier attacked.
She said: ‘We would never leave our son alone with a dog. We were there and he was wrapped up in his pram, and it still happened.’
She said her son owed his remarkable recovery to the quick response of the air ambulance crew who took James the 50 miles from his home in Invermark, in Glen Esk, Angus, to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Doctors there were able to begin specialised treatment within the hour. James underwent plastic surgery and other procedures by ear, nose and throat surgeons.
Mrs Davidson, 27, a shepherd, praised Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA), which had a crew out to pick them up only 15 minutes after they were called.
She said the journey to hospital would have taken more than an hour by road, adding: ‘It was so instantly reassuring having the air ambulance team here. They are life-savers, it is as simple as that.
‘Without them, rural communities would be scuppered.
‘It would have been horrendous sitting with James in the back of an ambulance.
‘He was slipping in and out of consciousness and we don’t know how the extra time needed to get to treatment would have left him.
‘With part of his ear being severed from his head, doctors might not have been able to save it.’
The dog, a four-year-old terrier named Rascal – one of ten dogs owned by the family – was put down after the attack.
Mrs Davidson said: ‘You might trust your animal 100 per cent but it can take only a split second for it all to go horribly wrong.
‘Rascal had never been aggressive, so even the nicest of dogs can make a mistake.’
James spent nine days in hospital but was able to enjoy his first Christmas at home with his mother and gamekeeper father, 28-year-old Derek. Both know the situation could have been much worse and Mrs Davidson said: ‘I felt dread and didn’t know what I was going to find when I looked into the pram. It would only have been the matter of a few seconds, but it was almost fatal.’
SCAA lead paramedic John Pritchard said: ‘It is great to hear the wee one got home for his first Christmas with his family.’
The SCAA, which operates one helicopter, is primarily funded through donations and fundraising. The organisation is trying to raise enough money to fund a second helicopter.
‘Even nice dogs can make a mistake’