'Mummy I die!' Emily Roark, 3, loses half her face after rescue dog with suspected pit bull mix mauls her
Warning: This article contains graphic description that may trigger some readers. Discretion is advised.
SLIDELL, LOUISIANA: A three-year-old girl is missing half her face after being mauled by the family's rescue dog. Rebekka Bolline fostered three-year-old pooch Tater Tot from a local animal shelter after her toddler daughter Emily Roark asked for a puppy, a decision she deeply regrets now. Within 24 hours of welcoming the new friend, the pup "ate some of Emily's face," leaving the horrified mother of two to believe she was dead.
"They had a good relationship. The dog let her kiss her face, on the snout, let her pet her and everything," said Rebekka from Louisiana. "The little bit of time that they were around each other, they were very sweet with each other. Emily came downstairs and she was petting the dog from the back of the neck to his back, very, very softly. In a matter of seconds, it barked and latched on her face and then started shaking her side to side, while I'm screaming, 'get off my baby, get off my baby', in terror," reported Daily Mail.
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The dog 'ate through' her face and 'ingested' some of her flesh
Rebekka continued, "When the dog bit and latched onto her, she didn't make a sound. Her body went limp and she was being thrown all over the place. At that moment, I just thought that she wasn't going to make it and that she was going to die. I didn't know how to help her. I couldn't get the dog off her. I kept screaming. I don't remember how I got the dog off - I blocked it out." After the dog unlatched itself, the toddler was rushed to Slidell Memorial Hospital in Louisiana. Rebekka claims the attack left Emily with her right cheek hanging off as the dog 'ate through' her face and 'ingested' some of her flesh. The three-year-old is unable to smile on one side of her face or sleep on it.
The Louisiana mother claims she was told that the dog was a Labrador-retriever mix but now fears it had some pit bull in it. "Her cheek was chewed up very badly. The dog ingested some of her face. I will never trust a dog ever again. It snapped for no reason." The tot was transferred to Children's International Pediatrics Hospital in New Orleans where a plastic surgeon stitched up the gouges on the toddler's cheeks, lip, and even inside the mouth.
'If you have kids, just don't adopt a dog'
"The doctors say she will not be able to smile or eat on one side of her face and her tear duct may have been damaged as well," read her GoFundMe. The mother who created the fundraiser is raising funds for Emily's "multiple reconstruction surgery." Although she was discharged on March 17, Emily's far from recovery. The dog was taken away by animal control and has since been euthanized. "Every once in a while, she's in a lot of pain she'll point to herself and say, 'mummy I die, mummy I die. Puppy was hungry,' which is heart-breaking," she said.
Rebekka claims that the experience has caused her to have "nightmares" and that the bite has left Emily with a "fear of animals." The parents are now urging everyone to not adopt a dog. "She was the whole reason we got a dog, because she kept asking for a puppy, Rebekka said. "If you have kids, just don't adopt a dog, because you never know what's going to happen. Maybe if you get a dog from being a puppy and raise it [that's different]. But if you have kids, don't adopt a dog. It's not worth it."
