A 20-year-old woman from Falkirk, Scotland, is recovering from catastrophic facial injuries after a large mixed-breed dog attacked her at a friend’s home in January, ripping off and swallowing part of her face in an assault she says lasted just five seconds.
Samantha Redding said she had known the Spanish Mastiff-Akita mix since it was a puppy and had no reason to anticipate danger when she picked up her bag and turned to leave.
“When my friend texted to say she was outside, I picked my bag, turned around and the dog jumped up off the couch onto its back legs and just latched onto my face,” Redding said. “The dog’s taller than me when it stands on its back legs.”
Redding said she caught a glimpse of herself in a hallway mirror and saw that half her face appeared to be gone. She ran from the house and went directly to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
“I literally just ran out of the house. I can remember the owner shouting ‘oh my god, oh my god’ and that’s about it,” she said.
“It didn’t just rip off a bit of my face, it actually ate it and swallowed it.”
The attack caused extensive damage to the right side of Redding’s face, including the loss of nearly her entire upper lip and significant injury to her cheek. Bite marks were also found on her arm.
Surgeons performed emergency operations to reconnect shredded tissue, including a 12-hour procedure involving a tracheostomy to support Redding’s breathing, along with reconstructive surgery using skin grafts taken from her arm and leg. Redding spent approximately one month in the hospital recovering and will require additional surgeries in the future.
“The doctors said I was lucky because if that was even 1 centimeter down, that could’ve been my neck and could’ve been a completely different story,” Redding said. “I could’ve died. Part of me feels lucky to be alive.”
Redding said the physical and psychological toll of the attack has been severe. She has experienced heightened anxiety in public, difficulty fully opening her mouth, and distress around her own pet, a small Cavapoo.
“I’ve been really struggling, I’ve not wanted to do anything. When I have been out recently, I feel like everyone’s staring at me,” she said. “I’ve got a little Cavapoo and I still get wary when she barks. Sometimes when I tilt my head a wee bit, all I can see is that dog coming towards me.”
“It’s been the hardest time of my life. I want justice, I don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” Redding said.
A fundraising campaign has been launched to help cover Redding’s ongoing medical expenses as she continues her recovery.
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