Girl, 10, attacked by pit bulls as she's left her with 'flesh hanging off body'

08 January 2024 , 14:43

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Reagan nearly lost her life and spent two weeks recovering in hospital (Image: True Life Stories)

An angry mum has told of the moment she was alerted to a dog attack on her daughter only to find her child badly injured and covered in blood.

Kimberly Boeckler, 31, was waiting for her daughter Raegan to come home from a playdate in November but was told her 10-year-old daughter had been mauled by pit bulls with her "flesh hanging" off. The single mum, from Okeechobee, Florida, said her daughter had gone over to visit her friend, whose pit bull had just given birth to puppies.

Her friend had originally begged the loving mom to allow Raegan to meet the new puppies and as Kimberly had a pit bull of her own when Raegan was growing up, she was happy to allow that, especially as her daughter was a "huge dog lover". She even asked Raegan to take some pictures for her when she was there.

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Some of the wounds Raegan suffered from the dogs were severe (True Life Stories)

Raegan got an infection in one of her wounds despite having extensive surgery (True Life Stories)

However, just a short time before Kimberly expected Raegan home, she called the child's mobile phone, but her friend answered and she could hear her daughter screaming in the background. The friend informed the mom that her daughter had been attacked.

Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him

Kimberly said: "In that moment, my soul left my body. I dropped everything and rushed over and saw Raegan (standing) in their front garden, in a pool of blood. She had blood gushing out of her head, face, arms, back and legs. There was flesh hanging out from her arm and back. It was my worst nightmare."

The adult pit bulls had attacked Raegan just as she was about to leave. While she was trying to protect herself, she was dragged onto the grass before the dogs could be pulled back into their cages. The shocked little girl was left with eight huge wounds and was losing a lot of blood. Kimberly then rushed her to hospital.

Raegan and her mum Kimberly still have nightmares about the attack (True Life Stories)

Raegan's classmates wrote her letters and gave her gifts (True Life Stories)

To make matters worse for the distraught parent she was warned at the hospital that Raegan might contract rabies. The injured youngster was later taken to St Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Animal control interviewed Kimberly about the attack while they were at the triage unit of HCA Florida Raulerson Hospital and Kimberly begged for the dogs to be euthanised.

Reagan spent two weeks recovering in hospital and at one point, despite the operations she had to go through, she developed an infection on the wound in her private area. She was left scarred for life and with PTSD, finding it difficult to speak about the attack. Her mum says she has since returned to school, and her classmates wrote her letters and gave her presents.

But Kimberly is fuming that the dogs were not put down, adding: "The only thing anyone should be upset with is irresponsible dog owners. Those dogs that attacked her were poorly kept and more should’ve been done. It’s not worth the risk. Police think the mother dog might’ve attacked on instinct, protecting her newborn puppies.

"The neighbours have since surrendered the dogs to animal control due to their aggressive behaviour. My Raegan is an incredible girl, who got a second chance at life. She’s lucky to be alive. I lived my worst nightmare. People need to become more responsible dog owners so that this doesn’t happen to anyone else."

Candice Fernandez