A 9-year-old girl is recovering from serious injuries sustained when she was bitten by a dog outside her Alabama home.
On Friday, Nov. 7, Delyla McCay was waiting with her 13-year-old sister McKenzie on the stairs of their Hanceville apartment for their father to pick them up when a dog “grabbed” her face, according to local news site WHNT.
The blue heeler dog was being walked by a toddler who apparently “got scared and dropped” its leash when the attack happened, according to Cleveland 19 News. Another adolescent attempted to get the dog off Delyla, but the beast attacked her again, according to the site.
Delyla was rushed to a children’s hospital after suffering significant facial injuries, according to a GoFundMe campaign started by her mother, Katie McCay.
“McKenzie remarked later, and everyone was yelling. Delyla wasn’t screaming. “She was shocked,” Katie told Cleveland 19 News.
Delyla’s face is bruised, swollen, and bloodied, with stitches across her nose, mouth, cheeks, and top lip, according to photographs posted on the GoFundMe page.
As a result of her injuries, her mother, Katie, says she will need plastic surgery and rabies vaccines.
“With me having insurance for her, I figured we’d be okay, but in co-pays alone over the weekend, we’ve spent $300,” said the writer. “That’s not including what’s coming for the helicopter ride, the plastic surgeon appointment on Thursday, and the general surgeon appointment on Friday, on top of the ER visits for her rabies shots because only the ER carries it.”
Katie stated that the situation has been “overwhelming” for their family. “Her dad’s had to get her a special shower head, a water flosser to rinse her mouth because her top lip is detached,” she wrote on a crowdfunding site.
The page has currently raised $8,600 to pay hospital and recuperation bills.
Katie informed Cleveland 19 News that she had reported the incident to Cullman County Animal Control (CCAC).
“I’ve never dealt with anything like that in my life, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” she told the site. “…Many people have asked, ‘What was she doing to the dog? Was it provoked? “My kid was just sitting there.”
PEOPLE has reached out to CCAC and the Cullman County Police Department for comment.
