Yahoo News I was savaged by a sausage dog - it ripped off my cheek and ate it in front of me
A single mum who had part of her cheek ripped off when she was attacked without warning by a friend's sausage dog has told how her 'life has been ruined'.
Kelly Allen also opened up about how her self-esteem has been 'absolutely destroyed' by the scar the dachshund left behind. The 45-year-old was enjoying a few drinks at a friend's house last month when their 'very friendly' dog suddenly changed its demeanour and latched on to her face.
The dog refused to loosen its grip until it had torn a large chunk of her cheek off to eat it, leaving Kelly with an open wound that required five and a half hours of plastic surgery and more than 40 stiches. The dachshund was removed from the property by police and later put down.
Kelly is seeking compensation after learning that the dog had allegedly already attacked two people, but this could take several years.
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The ordeal still haunts Kelly, who regularly wakes during the night crying and cannot face returning to work at a contact centre for the travel company Tui due to the trauma and her physical appearance. Kelly, a mum-of-three, now finds it difficult to leave her house without the company of her two sons Fletcher, 19, and Cooper, 18.
The £350 statutory sick pay she receives each month is insufficient to cover her bills and living costs. To help her stay afloat, Kelly is relying on her family, and her sister Stacey, 43, has initiated a fundraiser which has already received over £1,000 in donations.
"I can't get out of bed and I've been crying in my sleep because I feel his teeth in me," Kelly shared with PA Real Life. "I'm left with a hideous scar on my face. It's just ruined my life, because it will never be the same now.
"I now have to buy camouflage make-up for people who have facial disfigurements that's something I never thought I would have to do. I'm a single mum and I can't afford my electric and gas most weeks it just seems so unfair."
On Friday March 15, Kelly had visited a friend's house for drinks. Her friend, who she prefers not to name, owned a pet dachshund which showed no signs of aggression when Kelly arrived at around 9.30pm.
"He was very friendly and didn't show any signs of being an aggressive dog," she said. "He was laying on his back for belly rubs, and put his head in my lap a couple of times."
However, later that evening, while Kelly was sitting on the kitchen floor, leaning against one of the kitchen counters, the dog's behaviour suddenly changed. When she looked away for a brief moment, the dog attacked, sinking its teeth into her cheek.
"I turned my head towards the back door, where my friend was standing," Kelly recounted. "He didn't bark or growl, or make any noise, he just lunged and attached to my face.
"He then started ragging, shaking his head back and forth. I could feel his teeth deep inside my cheek I still get flashbacks now."
Kelly vividly recalls screaming 'get him off' as blood poured down her face. Another friend dashed into the kitchen and grabbed the dog's collar, but its jaws were clamped tight and wouldn't release.
"The only reason he got off was because he ripped that piece of flesh off and ate it," she explained. "He didn't release, he pulled it off and I felt the skin tear."
As Kelly managed to stand, the dog attacked her again, this time biting her arm. Thankfully, she was able to escape and flee the room.
"I've never had so much blood," she added. "I looked in her mirror which was straight in front of me and thought 's***, I'm in trouble'."
In a panic, they called 999 but were informed of a long wait. Worried she might 'bleed to death', Kelly phoned a sober friend for an urgent lift to accident and emergency.
"They numbed the area and scrubbed the wound with what looked like a Brillo pad because of all the bacteria in dogs' mouths," she described. As they leaned her over a sink, the relentless scrubbing was excruciating.
"They then poured water over me for five minutes, which felt like I was being waterboarded. It was horrific."
After her wound was bandaged, Kelly was informed she could go home and await contact from the plastic surgery team. At 7.50am, she received a phone call from the hospital instructing her to 'come back immediately' as she required surgery.
"I met with the plastics team who explained what they were going to do," she said. "They were going to take a piece of skin from my neck and graft it on my face."
Kelly spent five and half hours on the operating table before waking up with a bandage stitched to her face and a seven-inch scar across her collarbone. In total, she needed more than 40 stitches 36 on her chest and six on her arm.
The incident has severely impacted her mental health and shattered her confidence. "My self-esteem has been absolutely destroyed and I don't go out any more," said Kelly.
"If it wasn't for my close friends and family, I don't know where I would be now. I can't go to the shops any more, unless my son comes with me. I just don't live my life."
She hasn't been able to return to work since the attack. "I can't go back to work, because I can't face people, I just can't do it," she said. "I can't concentrate and I don't know what's going to happen."
The incident has also put a significant strain on Kelly's finances as she only receives £350 a month statutory sick pay. "My employers have been amazing and really supportive," she said.
"I'm now making a legal claim, but that could take up to two years and in the meantime I've got no income. I'm not entitled to anything else because I'm still employed and I can't give up my job to get income support, because then I lose my job. So I'm just in a really hard place at the moment."
To help cover her bills, Kelly's sister has set up a GoFundMe page which has already raised over £1,000. It emerged this wasn't the first time the dog had been aggressive.
Kelly expressed her reluctance to involve the police, however, they became involved after hospital staff saw the extent of her injuries. The dog was subsequently seized and euthanised following an assessment at a training centre in Cardiff, Kelly reports.
"I have since found out that the dog had attacked other people," she disclosed. "The support from those around me has been incredible."
"It's thanks to them that I'm still waking up every day at the moment. I don't think anyone should be on their own going through something like this."
