The afternoon air was filled with the wailing of a little blonde girl as Legacy Emergency Specialists’ first responders carried her to the waiting ambulance.
On October 9, just after 14:00, Legacy Emergency Specialists were deployed to a day-care centre in Ben Fleur.
A 2-year old girl had been bitten in the face whilst at the day-care centre by a Labrador.
Medics from Legacy Emergency Specialists were on the scene within minutes. Phillip du Plessis carries out the two year old that was bitten by a dog, assisting Phillip is Gavin Cooper. (Photo: Samantha Traill).
The little girl was transported to Life Cosmos Hospital. She sustained four injuries to her face and one behind her ear. The injury to her left eye scraped the tear duct, damaging the ligaments in the eye socket itself. The little girl underwent a two and a half hour long surgery at Highveld Eye Hospital to remedy the damage.
Her first operation, in which the wounds to the rest of her face and behind her ear were cleaned and sutured, also lasted for approximately two hours.
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On October 16, the stitches were removed from the wounds to her face, however she is left with a drainage pipe in her left eye following the surgeries.
The mother of the injured little girl, when asked about the incident, stated:
“We, as parents, are incredibly sad that our daughter has had to endure so much pain, discomfort and trauma. We’ve had to remove her from the crèche until after her next surgery to remove the drainage pipe. We’re still deciding if we’ll put her back into this specific crèche once she’s back on the mend. The school acted correctly in getting her to the hospital as soon as possible, and they let us know what had happened immediately. We do however feel that when you own an aggressive dog, which is a ‘must’ in crime-ridden eMalahleni, and there are children around, that extra precautionary measures should be taken. We’d like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers in this difficult time.”
The little girl sustained four lacerations to her face, and one behind her ear.
The owner of the school was in tears when asked about the incident, quietly sobbing, she stated,
“She is like my own daughter. She’s been in this crèche since she was six months old. The dog that bit her, our beloved Labrador, was taken to be put down directly after the incident. He and the little girl grew up together. He grew up with most of our pupils. The pupils left ask where he is… and we don’t know what to tell them. He wasn’t an aggressive dog and had never hurt anyone in his four years of life. Labradors are known for their loving and kind personalities. I am so incredibly sorry for what happened to the little girl, I wish I could turn back the time and make things right. I am sad about my dog, of course, but I’m even sadder that this little girl has had to go through so much. I just wish I could take it back. It breaks my heart to know what that little girl’s been through. I’ve been to see a counsellor; I’m so guilt-ridden that I can’t eat… I can’t sleep…”
The owner of the school’s husband witnessed the incident, and said that the little girl had asked his wife for a glass of juice. His wife had left for a minute to go and pour her some juice, when suddenly he heard a scream. He hadn’t heard the dog make a sound.
He turned around and saw the little girl on the floor, and at first thought that she had just tripped over her own feet and perhaps bumped her head or hurt her knee, but as soon as she looked up and he saw the blood on her face, he scooped her up and immediately deployed the ambulance service.
“We’d like to thank the SACCW for their assistance. They knew exactly what to do. We’d also like to thank Gavin from Legacy Emergency Specialists, who was here within minutes,” the owner’s husband said.
