“He jumped on the dog and pulled it off her and continued to kick it until her grandpa came to help,” Rebecca Chitwood said of her son.
An 8-year-old boy is being hailed a hero after saving his little sister from a vicious dog attack.
Rebecca Chitwood, the mother of Nicholas, 8, and his 6-year-old sister Lillian, shared with a local news outlet that the kids were playing at their grandparent’s home when the incident happened on June 30.
“When I got the call, I just dropped everything that I was doing and sped all the way to the hospital,” she said, after finding out that the neighbor’s pit bull had escaped the yard and attacked her daughter.
Chitwood made the drive with almost no details about what had happened.
“I had no idea what to expect. It could have been just a few bites, or it could have been much worse,” she recalled.
While Lillian is stable and has started her recovery, Chitwood noted that her daughter still has a long journey ahead of her.
“There was a cut on her neck that was just about three centimeters away from severing an artery,” she stated. “Another bite went all the way down her face.”
Lillian might face extensive nerve damage, but the family is relieved that she is alive.
“It was terrifying, but I’m thankful for my brother. Without him, I might not be here,” Lillian shared with the local news.
“I didn’t want her to die,” Nicholas said simply.
Chitwood referred to her son as “the best big brother in the world” and expressed her immense pride in him.
She also shared more about the rescue with Fox News Digital.
“Nicholas jumped on the dog and pulled it off her. He kept kicking it until his grandpa came to help,” she recounted. “He heard her scream and just sprang into action.”
A GoFundMe account has been set up by the family to help with Lillian’s medical expenses. “The dog was NOT provoked,” Chitwood wrote.
“We had to go to the University of Michigan for extensive surgery. I found out that the dog owners don’t have renter’s insurance, and they are refusing to assist us in any way,” Chitwood wrote on the fundraising page.
“My daughter has a long road ahead, with numerous trips to the hospital, which is hours away. This will mean time off work and hefty medical bills. Plus, there’s the emotional toll this has taken on my little girl!”
The dog involved in the attack was euthanized by animal control, as reported by the local news.