“I will never Own a Pitbull again” says a Model
“Suddenly there was unbearable pain and a River of Blood.”
On November 3rd, I was Chilling at my cousins Place when I was attacked by my cousin’s pit bull. I had met my cousin’s pit bull pet many times in the past my cousin brought him home when he was eight weeks old and he was fully trained to behave well, which is why the attack was shocking and surprising. He had never shown any violence towards me or anyone else ever before.
I’m from California, but I was visiting my cousins in Arizona when the attack took place. There are a lot of interesting things that happened in the lead up. Few minutes before that, I went to a shop and the girl who worked there randomly looked at me and said: “I just want you to know that whatever you go through, you’re going to remain positive. You will find your Strength” I replied, “Oh, thank you. That means a lot.”
As I walked through the store, she saw me again and continued to tell me that whatever I went through, I was going to remain positive. Little did I know that minutes later, I would be attacked and my life would change completely.
Attack in the Details :
I was in the Kitchen When the Attack Happened waiting for my cousin to finish placing pots and pans in the cabinets. Her dog was sitting very close to me, but I wasn’t by his bowl or his food. I hadn’t done anything that could have potentially triggered him.
As he was sitting down, I pet his head gently, and I turned to look at my cousin. When I turned back to face him, he had come up from the ground and he was hanging on my upper lip.
At that very moment, the instinct to protect kicked in. So, I started grabbed his head and was pushing him back. If I hadn’t I done that, I think a whole lot more damage would have been done. He hung on to my top lip for 50 to 60 seconds, and all I could see were his gums, but I didn’t scream or make a loud noise because of the shock and pain that I was in.
His bite was so strong that it made my head and body shake, but I managed to pushed him away. Suddenly, something flew from his mouth and hit the wall. It wasn’t until then that I realized he had bitten/ripped off my top lip completely. Taking a breath felt like someone had put dry ice up my nose.
Because of the adrenaline, I stopped feeling pain suddenly. I didn’t even know how badly he had hurt me. I just thought he might have bruised my lip. Then, I tasted something metallic and weird in my mouth and saw blood on my shirts and hands.
When my cousin finally turned around and saw me, she was completely shocked. She kept on saying I would sue her when I saw what he did. I took out my phone and saw in the camera that my entire top lip was gone. I was bleeding a lot and knew I needed to go to the hospital immediately.
I stood over the bathroom sink, watching blood drip from my mouth. When I put my hands on the sink and looked up at myself in the mirror, it finally sank in what had happened. I couldn’t believe it.
My Hospital Journey :
The hospital was just a 10-minute drive away, and when we got there, one of the staff threw a rag over my face, saying she couldn’t bear to look at me. I was worried about fainting because I had lost a lot of blood. Luckily, they saw me within 15 minutes.
I had to wait for nine hours before the doctors could operate on me because they had to call a surgeon, who drove for 6 hours to reach me. Then, I was moved to another hospital 45 minutes away in an ambulance.
The ambulance driver said to me, “You’re the calmest person I’ve had today.” I didn’t see the point in panicking, and during all that time, I still didn’t feel any physical pain.
I didn’t see my parents before my surgery, and I didn’t know how I would look afterward. The nurse gave me papers to sign, and I saw that one risk was that I could die during the operation.
I kept thinking: “This shouldn’t be happening to me.” A nurse even said to me, “This should have never happened to you,” and started crying. I needed someone to reassure me that I would be okay and that I would make it through.
Then the anesthesiologist looked at me and said, “You’re going to be okay, I promise. You live in California. That’s the surgeon’s state.”
What Happened to that Pit Bull :
After that attack, animal control had to put my cousin’s dog to slow and painless death. It was sad for me because I felt sorry for everyone involved in that job.
I know many people who have pit bulls. They love their dogs and believe they would never hurt anyone. I’ve met nice pit bulls, but my cousin’s dog, although nice, ended up attacking me.
So, for me, having a pit bull would feel risky, like having a loaded gun; you never know what might happen. That’s why I wouldn’t own one.
However, I’ve seen many pit bulls since the attack, and I’m not scared of them; I’m just more concious of what they can do. I still love dogs, but I’m more cautious around them now.
I am not telling you to get rid of that dog but I think it’s a banned breed Now. All I can do is share my story. It’s strange because my dad used to warn me about pit bulls when I was a child, but I didn’t listen. I used to say, “All dogs are nice.” After the attack, I realized my dad was right.
Life after the Attack :
Previously I used to do modelling and was very excited to continue, but now I’m in a weird place. I can’t really pursue modeling now because I’m still going through multiple surgeries. And In LA, where I live, people care a lot about appearance.
When I try modeling jobs, I’m often asked, “When will your face be completely fixed?” I explain that I’m still having surgeries to fix it.
These conversations make me wonder if I’m ready to model like I used to. But I’m doing well on social media. I’m lucky to make money doing what I love, which is skateboarding. I couldn’t ask for more. I still believe everything happens for a reason.
My attack was awful, but it taught me humility. I always say, hug someone you love today. Many people are struggling, and we can’t judge them because we don’t know what they’re going through.
Throughout the Whole Incident that Words by the Shop Girl really Helped to Pass the Difficult phase
