XL Bully attack leaves her needing surgery on arms as she tries to save daughter

06 September 2023 , 13:47

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Katie tried to save her daughter and dog from the attack (Image: Katie Deere WS)

A mum has been left terrified and with potentially life-altering injuries after shielding her daughter from an 'aggressive' XL Bully dog which left her needing more than 50 stitches.

Katie Deere was out for a walk with her dog and young child in a pushchair when the menacing canine attacked. The 31-year-old mum was left covered in blood and needing taking to hospital for surgery. The teaching assistant recalls spotting the 'aggressive looking loose dog' eyeing her in Askern, South Yorkshire, on August 17. Alarmed, she picked up her own dog and continued walking.

However, before she could react, the dog charged across the road and lunged at her, latching onto her arm, Yorkshire Live reports. Quick-thinking Katie managed to push the pram carrying her young daughter towards a bystander who had stopped to assist. In the chaos, her dog leapt from her arms and fled, leaving Katie to bear the full brunt of the attack.

A man, who had witnessed the entire ordeal from his lorry, rushed to Katie's aid and managed to pry the dog off Katie, freeing her arm, and promptly called an ambulance. Katie was then rushed under blue lights to Northern General Hospital in Sheffield. She underwent a gruelling five-hour surgery on both her arms, which included 50 stitches and the repair of her partially amputated left finger.

She needed more than 50 stitches (Katie Deere)

And nearly lost her finger (Katie Deere)

Recounting the terrifying incident, Katie said: "I can remember seeing the dog running towards me, truthfully I was absolutely petrified, I love dogs, but I could see it was coming for me and it just looked so angry." She recalled pleading with a bystander, saying 'please don't let me die I have a daughter.'

Girl, 4, mauled to death in dog attack pictured as neighbours hear mum's screams

"As much as I knew I was in danger I just wanted my daughter out of the way, I knew my mum and dad would be called and she would be ok. I can just remember the most horrific and intense pain, everyone says child labour is the worst pain, but it's not. I wouldn't wish the pain on anybody."

She added that a lorry driver named Stephen came to help her. She said: "The lorry driver that saved me said there was so much blood dripping from my arm, he said he didn't know if I was going to survive or not. "My finger was classed as a partial amputation, my left finger had been broken at a 90 degree angle and I had gashes out of my right arm (top and bottom), my left arm has got pins in and I have had to have about 50 stitches."

Currently, both of Katie's arms are still in casts, forcing her to move back in with her mother who is now responsible for feeding and dressing her, as well as caring for her daughter. "Truthfully it's hard to know what the future means for me now, we don't know at the moment what the long term damage will be until the stitches are out."

She also expressed concerns about potential nerve damage and the need for physiotherapy to rebuild muscle strength. The incident has left her with permanent physical and mental scars. "It's changed me massively as a person. I was so confident and now I am so anxious I can't go anywhere without my mum or dad without getting overwhelmed and ending up in tears because it's just all too much. I'm petrified of having to take my own dog out now, even when I am better, how will I ever feel safe again taking my daughter and my dog out now? It's unfair that I feel I shouldn't be able to go out and walk my dog and have my daughter in the pushchair."

Katie's auntie, Jayne Redfern, has started a Go Fund Me campaign on behalf of Katie. The aim is to alleviate the financial stress and worry the single-mum and her family are currently facing. Katie added: "I just want to get better in my head, I haven't thought about the financial strain but obviously the constant hospital trips to Sheffield, it all adds up. It sounds daft but it's things like, I've had to buy bigger t-shirts so my mum can get my arms in, it's little things like that you don't even think about."

Following the incident, Katie managed to connect with the man who came to her rescue, Stephen. She said: "After the incident I managed to get in contact with Stephen through his work place, McGregrors, he said he hadn't stopped thinking about me. He said he didn't know what he was going to do but he knew he had to do something. If he had not been there I would not have been able to stop that dog, he is the definition of a local hero and he is the reason I am still here today."

The dog involved in the incident was destroyed after being 'seized' by armed officers.

Katie added: "I am an animal lover and I don't wish for any animal to be destroyed but if that would have been a child, God forbid my daughter, they would have been killed."

* This article was crafted with the help of an AI tool, which speeds up The Mirror's editorial research. An editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to [email protected]

Kelly-Ann Mills