My son was savagely attacked by a dog while playing football – he’s too scared to leave the house now
A BOY who was savagely attacked by a dog while playing football still can't leave his garden two months later - and his parents are in a battle to sue the owners.
Giorgi Fullbirg-Taylor suffered "severe" bite wounds after a jet-black mixed terrier mutt locked his jaws around the 10-year-old.
The devil dog locked on with such brutality, it's teeth could only be prised off Giorgi by a paint scraper.
Two months after the brutal event, which occurred on Tuesday, February 14, just off Bierley Lane in Bradford, Yorkshire, the young boy has only left his house twice and still can't move his left arm properly.
His mum Kimberly spoke to The Sun Online about the aftermath: "Giorgi is absolutely petrified of even leaving the garden, he is terrified of dogs even on leads, he won't walk near a dog, he screams if one is off lead.
"We can't go for general family walks because of dogs, or to the park.
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"He won't play out because he's petrified, he still hasn't got full range in his left arm so we're still trying to do home physio, because he can move it up but he can't straighten it fully.
"More than likely it will be something he always has to work on because they had to they had to reconstruct the muscle back together and do plastic surgery. There's no time frame.
"Because he's growing, if he doesn't keep that muscle moving, it will seize and then shrink and movement will become restricted so it's a case of still getting him to work on it as much as possible."
The young lad had sustained a puncture wound to his right elbow, three or four deep cuts on his left arm and bite marks on his legs.
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He went under the knife for plastic surgery to repair the damage on February 15, and remained in hospital overnight.
Hi mum explained that Giorgi can't bring himself to physically touch his own scars and she moisturizes them for him.
"Surgeons at Bradford Royal Infirmary have done amazing in my opinion but Giorgi obviously still doesn't like them because of it reminding him of what happened", Kimberly added.
LEGAL BATTLE
The family is now working with specialist lawyers, Slee Blackwell Solicitors, to represent their son as they launch a civil claim against the dog's owners.
James McNally, head of the firm’s personal injury department and leading national dog bite solicitor, told that future surgeries will be likely as Giorgi grows.
He said: "Giorgi will need to be seen by a plastic surgeon and a psychiatrist, to deal with the impact it can have on him, the fear of dogs, the social impact of not wanting to go outdoors to avoid being in that situation again, and being impacted every time he sees a dog.
"He isn't just going to need surgery now, it could be again at 16 or 18 as he grows."
In their battle to sue the deranged dog's owners, Kimberly said: "Luckily for Giorgi they're insured.
"Suing the dog owners is still in limbo, they've instructed someone to act on their behalf. We are just waiting on paperwork.
"The police have said there is a destruction order on the dog but I haven't been given an update yet.
"The case is now with CPS and they're making a decision about what to do.
"We haven't discussed the amount they could have to pay us, I haven't even asked, it's just for the sake of Giorgi, we are going to have to pay for physio and private counselling because the wait time is too long."
LASTING EFFECTS
Kimberly spoke about the long lasting anxiety her son now deals with on a daily basis.
"It's been eight weeks today and he still can't leave the garden, he's been out twice and both times come back within half and hour because he's seen a dog and he's petrified", she said.
"He hasn't gone back to football yet, it's one of his favourite things to do to play footie.
"He used to be so confident, bubbly and outgoing but now he's the opposite, he won't go near a dog, he is really nervous even if they are on a lead, no matter how much you talk him through it.
"He can't grasp the fact the dog isn't going to get him.
"We didn't know the owners, but they do live in the same area as us, they live up the road from where it happened.
"They actually live next to the chip shop so now Giorgi will no longer go anywhere near there or the field where it happened.
"Our local barbers is across from where it was and he will no longer go on his own. I have to take him."
Since the tragedy, the furious mum has sent an urgent warning to all dog owners to take responsibility for their pets.
"If you've got a pet you do everything you can to make sure they're in your control, if it's in the garden you do your best to make sure it can't get out, or make sure you keep them on the lead and muzzled.
"They should be prosecuted, they've told me it's their dog and it wasn't in their garden, but they've not admitted that the dog wasn't in their control.
"But it does lie at their feet, they should definitely have to face time or a suspended sentence of some sort.
"You can't have your dog attack a child of my boy's size and age, if it were a child of a younger age or smaller size, or a child who hasn't got the reaction time to cover their face and neck, then the outcome would have been very different, the child probably wouldn't have survived."
West Yorkshire Police confirmed a destruction order is being sort for the dog, which is currently being kept in a shelter.
A file has been passed to the CPS in relation to a 50-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman, both from Bradford.
Kimberly added: "We don't want to move, he's settled with his friends and for now he is in the garden, but his mental health won't change even if we moved, it's all dogs of all areas the whole thing has completely changed him."
DANGER ZONES
This comes as the worst places in the UK for dog bite attacks have been revealed.
This year two people have been mauled to death by hounds and just this week, six people were raced to hospital with serious injuries.
The first person killed this year was Surrey woman Natasha Johnston, 28, who died from “multiple penetrating dog bites to the neck”.
Less than a month later little Alice Stones, four, was mauled to death by her family dog in Milton Keynes.
Last year there was a record number of deaths and over a seven-month period alone more than 2,000 people required surgery after being savaged by dogs.
The worst area in the UK, between April and November last year, was Kent and Medway, where a whopping 250 attacks were recorded.
That averaged more than four attacks a week where surgery was required.
Black Country was the next worst area, clocking in 180 savagings, closely followed by Coventry and Warwickshire with 170, and Devon with 165.
Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West; Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire; Birmingham and Solihull; Cheshire and Mersusode; and Hampshire and Isle of Wight also closely followed with 160 attacks reported in the seven-month period.
DOG ATTACK 'EPIDEMIC'
Last month it was revealed dangerous dog attacks have risen by 34 per cent in England and Wales over the past five years.
Between 2001 and 2021, there was an average of 3.3 dog-related deaths each year.
Last year, that shot up to ten.
The Sun recently looked into Britain's deadly dog attack epidemic, where beasts are sold on Snapchat amid calls for the breed to be banned.
American Bully XLs are at the centre of an attack epidemic that has killed ten Brits in the last 12 months.
The youngest victim was Bella Rae-Birch, just 17-months when a family dog - bought a week before the attack - savaged her to death.
Other victims of the breed, including Ian Symes, 34, had their throats bitten and vital organs torn into during attacks.
Mum-of-two Joanne Robinson, 43, was savaged to death by her Bully XL Rocco after he "turned mad and snapped", pinning her throat to the floor with his jaws last July.
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While Shirley Patrick, 83, died 17 days after sustaining "traumatic lacerations" and "significant injuries"; to her head, body, face and arms in a mauling by a Bully XL.
The tragedy happened just half a mile from a house where 10-year-old schoolboy Jack Lis was killed by another dog in November 2021.
