Boy, 2, suffered horrific facial injuries after dog attack by ‘best friend’ Staffordshire Bull Terrier
A mother has shared graphic images of how their beloved family dog almost tore off their the toddler son’s face despite them being “best friends” as she warned even ‘trusted’ pets can maim children.
Jodie Griffiths, 35, was at work when she received the heart-stopping call from her partner their two-year-old son Romy had been seriously bitten.
The youngster and his siblings had been playing in the living room with new flying helicopters toys while eight-year-old family dog Blizzard slept on the couch nearby.
Romy’s dad, Daniel Griffiths, 32, had only looked away for a second before the boy screamed out in agony and he turned back to find him covered in blood after a single bite tore through his nose.
Distressing photos show how little Romy was left with deep lacerations across his nose and face, a fractured jaw and even missing teeth from the attack on 27 December.
The parents said the dog was their son’s “best friend” and had never been aggressive before, leaving them convinced he had been startled awake by the flying toy and lunged at the the boy’s face in shock. Since the attack was put down to an accident the couple were allowed to keep Blizzard. But Jodie admitted she would never “trust” him again so they were forced to give up their beloved family pet.
The ultrasound assistant has now shared shocking photos of her son’s injuries to warn other parents about the risk of dog attacks.
Ms Griffiths, from Walsall, West Midlands, said: “The kids were playing in the front room with their flying helicopters and the dog was asleep on the chair.
“My partner had got up to go to the kitchen but didn’t even get to the kitchen – he heard Romy scream and turned around and that was just how fast it happened.
“I think the dog was startled awake by one of the flying helicopters and Romy’s face must just have been right there.”
Ms Griffiths was at work and got a call from her partner saying the dog had bitten their child.
“When I got home Romy was covered in blood and my partner was covered in his blood as well,” she said.
“He was screaming and then he started dozing off to sleep – the doctors said it was because of the shock. Then they gave him morphine until he went to theatre.”
The mother said she did not quite realise how bad it was until after his surgery because he wouldn’t let anyone look at his face.
She added: “It fractured his jaw, ripped all of his nose, ripped out three teeth from the root – he had to have hundreds and hundreds of stitches, they lost count of how many.
“The damage was really bad on the inside of his nose and they said if the dog had bit down a little bit more his whole nose would have been bitten off.”
After the terrifying phone call, Ms Griffiths rushed home and the parents took her son to New Croft Hospital in Wolverhampton.
From there, Romy was transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital where he underwent surgery the following day to stitch his nose back together.
What was meant to be a two-hour operation ended up taking five hours due to the extensive damage to the boy’s face, followed by two nights in hospital recovering.
