A THREE-year-old boy has been left scarred for life after needing 100 stitches in his face when he was viciously savaged by a Japanese Akita.
Toddler Trafford-James Jackson-Poole has been left struggling to smile after being mauled by the huge dog while out with his family.
His mum, Gemma Jackson, 28, is now calling for the dog to be destroyed to prevent similar attackss after reliving the horrifying moment she thought her son was going to die when she saw him dripping with blood.
She told how the family were getting ready to leave their local pub when their son wandered into another room and was attacked by the Akita.
“I heard a barking noise and then Trafford-James came in holding his face,” she said.
“He was screaming and covered in blood. The Akita had literally ripped a chunk out of his face.
“It all happened so quickly and the first thing I thought was ‘is he going to die?’ I was in complete shock.”
Trafford-James was kept in hospital for 24 hours after needing immediate surgery on his left cheek and treatment for a fractured eye socket, and he will need a further operation on January 24 to correct his damaged skin.
Gemma, of Newbold, Chesterfield, who is also mum to Jordan, 11, said: “I recently heard that the same dog attacked another child. This should never have been allowed to happen.”
Gemma says that they had seen the dog a few times in the pub and the day before it had growled at a customer, but it had always been kept behind the bar.
She said: “For Trafford to have to live with a scar on his face for the rest of his life over something that could have so easily been prevented makes me so angry.
“To ensure this doesn’t keep happening, the dog needs to be destroyed.”
Doctors are hopeful that Trafford-James has not suffered nerve damage following the bite, but won’t know until the swelling on his face subsides.
He was rushed to Sheffield Children’s Hospital after Chesterfield Royal Hospital considered his injuries so serious that he needed specialist treatment.
The attack, which happened on December 30 at the Nags Head Pub in Newbold at around 5:30pm, has had a devastating impact on the tot.
Gemma said: “Trafford-James has been very quiet since it happened and not really himself.
“He won’t go near dogs now and is scared when he hears them barking.
“Because the scarring has caused so much swelling, he is really struggling to smile.
“There’s so much dead skin around the injury that it’s causing the scar to turn black. His operation at the end of this month will hopefully be able to remove some of that dead skin.
“The doctors say they’re hopeful that’ll he will make a good recovery but they won’t be able to say for sure for a week or two.
“He’s a strong little boy and we’re so proud of how he’s coping but I can see that it’s really affected him.
“It’s frightening to think what could have happened.”
Trafford-James’ father, 30-year-old Matthew Poole, who is an engineer, is also calling for the Akita to be destroyed.
Derbyshire Police confirmed that a child was bitten on the face in the Nags
Head on Sunday December 30 and that enquiries into the incident are still ongoing.
Comments