Darien’s Wiley battled back after dog attack on court
Emily Wiley remembers it as a beautiful morning in May 2019 on the Cove Beach tennis courts in Stamford. The sophomore had built a 13-1 record as No. 1 singles player for Darien High School, including a victory over the eventual state champion. Training for the FCIAC and state tournaments, Emily’s goals for her team and for herself were high.
“A dog was off leash kind of going crazy around the fence and tennis balls,” Wiley said. “Finally, he got through the crack in the fence and charged at me pretty randomly. I didn’t think he was attacking me at first. I thought he may be playing.”
The pit bull wasn’t playing. It latched onto Emily’s left leg and with those powerful jaws started tearing at her calf and behind her knee. The dog would not let go. This went on, she said, for more than five minutes.
“It was pretty violent,” she said. “There was a lot of blood.”
Two years later, here was Wiley back on the tennis court Saturday at Fairfield Ludlowe in a battle of FCIAC unbeatens. While Darien lost for the first time in seventh matches, 4-3, and Emily fell in three difficult sets, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, the long afternoon gave indication how hard she has battled back.
With a 2019 postseason lost to a horrible pit bull attack and an entire 2020 spring lost to COVID behind her, she is a senior with high hopes again for her team and herself and a story to tell about her push for legislation and the path of her recovery from the physical and mental scars of her attack.
A young girl, not the owner, was watching the pit bull that morning and when she heard Emily’s screams in the distance went onto the court. The girl couldn’t get the dog off Emily and seemed afraid, too.
How did Emily end up getting away from the dog?
“I really had no help,” she said. “My hitting partner was pretty petrified. I had dropped my racket in surprise. I ended up taking a
tennis ball, jamming it in the dog’s mouth, shaking him off me … and running.”
Quick thinking. This is probably a good place to point out Emily is a straight-A student and Darien’s CIAC female studentathlete award winner. She will attend the University of Notre Dame in the fall.
Emily ran from the court to the parking lot and, believing the pit bull was right on her tail, she essentially jumped through the open window of a car.
“It was this nice older woman,” Emily said. “I must have really scared her, but I’m grateful. She called the police.”
An ambulance brought Wiley to Stamford Hospital. This was a gruesome wound and as recognition set in, so did the immense pain. Wiley was fortunate on one important count. The 11 bites barely missed her femoral artery. The dog, however, had torn through her skin. Tendons were exposed.
“It almost looked like a shark bite,” Emily said.
She would need surgery and more than 100 stitches. Her parents, Mary Ann and Sam, the head pro at Wee Burn Country Club, arrived at the hospital. By coincidence, Darien’s girls coach Lise-Anne Brown had been visiting her mom. She came to see her star player.
For two weeks after the operation, Emily couldn’t walk. Crutches helped. There was nerve damage. The leg was swollen, multicolored, stitches everywhere. In Emily’s words, it was “grotesque.”
“The girls on the team were shocked and I think the whole team was sad,” Emily said. “Beyond tennis, we’re a strong group of girls and very close. They were so nice, supported and visited me. Even the next night after it happened, we had a pasta dinner at our house. I went to all matches after that as a cheerleader. Our team was really strong. I was disappointed what happened hindered our success.”
Emily’s leg had been left at an odd dangle to stabilize, and that meant it was tight and painful to stretch. She had to push herself to start walking. For months, pain and loss of sensation in the lower leg remained from the nerve damage. Mike Morgan at Darien Physical Therapy led the path of rehabilitation.
She finally was able to play in an USTA tournament in August. She played one match, but had to default the next.
“I was exhausted, not really in shape,” Emily said. “It was definitely a process. It was difficult. And just being on the tennis court brought back the memories.”
There was an additional dynamic. Emily’s twin sister, Katie, is No. 1 doubles player at Darien.
“She’s a big part of my life and an amazing player,” Emily said. “We’re very close. It’s going to be difficult to separate for college — she’s going to Tulane — but I think it’s good for us. She didn’t have any twin telepathy, but I know she felt a lot
of guilt. That was supposed to be her hitting lesson that morning, but I went. I’m glad I was there.”
Emily Wiley laughed at what she said. She must love her twin very much.
Motivated for the 2020 spring season, she played USTA tournaments, practiced indoors through the winter and was ready. At the same time, Emily worked on legislation with state Rep. Terri Wood, of the 141st district, for an amendment to HB5338 to help other victims and rehabilitate dangerous dogs.
Bent on making some good from something horrible, Miss Wiley went to Hartford. She testified in front of the Environmental Committee at the capitol on March 6, 2020. Spoke of her experiences. Spoke about proposed changes.
“I definitely wanted to make something come out of this horrible experience,” Wiley said. “I felt like some of the laws and restrictions on dog attacks weren’t very strong or effective in Connecticut.”
Wiley had done research on other states. She steered away from breed-specific legislation. She proposed that after an incident some authority — veterinarian, animal control board, a state vet — would determine whether the dog was safe. If a dog was deemed dangerous, the proposal was to get the dog to animal behavior class and have the instructor certify whether it was rehabilitated or still dangerous.
There was a proposal for owners of dangerous dogs to carry liability insurance. Wiley also pushed for stricter laws and harsher fines for those who violate public leash laws.
In a letter after the hearing to state Sen. Craig Miner, she noted the 21-year-old owner of the pit bull that attacked her was not fined. She said she received no money from the attack.
“The dog that bit me was not put down, and I’m fine with it,” Emily said. “I don’t want to have that kind of guilt, but I don’t think the owner had trained him properly.”
Less than a week after Emily testified, the pandemic hit in force. The timing couldn’t have been worse.
The state legislative session was suspended. The CIAC spring sports season would be called off.
“Because of the pandemic, (the amendment) stalled,” Emily said. “It seemed like there had been a positive response and it’s something I’m looking forward to working on in the future.”
The pandemic did leave Emily with more time. She had been casually keeping a journal, but now she began writing more, organizing it, and ultimately self-published a book she hopes will help others deal with trauma.
“I love to write,” she said. “I guess I’m kind of weird. I like both English and mathematics.”
Scholar-athlete, yes, that’s a great kind of weird.
“In addition to all the physical trauma, I definitely had a lot of mental trauma; PTSD, I’d say,” Emily said. “We don’t have a family dog, but I was always good around them. After it happened, for a while, I was afraid of dogs. It was surprising, even around my friends’ dogs I was afraid. We live next to the woods, a lot of dogs running around, that was triggering at times.
“I kept a journal of a lot of thoughts going through my head. Writing really was the biggest thing for me, to process everything. After all that, I don’t feel like I have much trauma. I’ve coped with it and it’s gone.”
The book is called “Opening The Gate: A Journal of Healing From Trauma & Creating Positivity.” It is available on Amazon and at Barrett Bookstore in Darien.
“I thought it would be for family and close friends,” Emily said, “but it has spread word of mouth.”
Although she could have competed at other colleges, Emily has opted for club tennis at Notre Dame.
“So senior year, especially, is sentimental,” she said. “I don’t take one match for granted. What I went through definitely makes each one more memorable. We have a great team. Our goal definitely is to win FCIAC and states.”
Emily Wiley is back and spreading the word why.