A 20-year-old woman from Falkirk has described the terrifying moment a dog she had known since it was a puppy latched onto her face, leaving her with devastating injuries and a long road to recovery.
Samantha Redding was visiting her friend's father's house in January when the Spanish mastiff crossed with a bear-headed Akita suddenly attacked her. She had been around the dog since it was young and had never known it to be aggressive.
Attack and Immediate Aftermath
"I went to my friend's dad's house to get her but she'd already left to meet me at my house," Samantha told creatorzine.com. "I was only in the house for about 10 minutes and I was getting ready to leave. I went to pick up my bag and the dog latched onto my face. The dog had never been nippy to me before."
She recalls little of the attack beyond the dog growling and the pain. "I can't remember how the dog got off. All I can remember is turning round after and seeing my face in the mirror and thinking my life was over," she said.
"The dog was huge, taller than me when it stands on its back legs, and probably weighs around the same as me, but it had never been nippy to me before."
Hospital Treatment and Multiple Surgeries
Samantha managed to flee the house while covering her bloodied face and was taken to hospital. She said: "In the car, I phoned my mum and dad who thought I was joking. I FaceTimed them and all they said was they'd meet me at A&E. My mum burst into tears when she saw me. That's when I realised how bad it was. My face looked like something from a horror movie."
The following morning, she was transferred to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, where specialist maxillofacial surgeons treated her complex injuries. Doctors cleaned the wounds and assessed the damage, warning her she would need three or four operations before reconstructive surgery could begin.
She said: "This was terrifying. I was in constant pain, unable to eat except through a tube and my mental health was obviously taking a dip. I was told my next surgery would be a week later, as I needed lots of IV antibiotics before. They were going to have to take a graft from my arm to put on my face and a graft from my leg to cover the one on my arm."
Recovery and Ongoing Impact
Samantha spent five weeks in hospital and has undergone four operations so far. She faces another next week and potentially at least two more after that. Because doctors need to protect the blood supply to the graft, the procedures are being carried out around eight weeks apart.
She has been left with extensive scarring to her face and neck, as well as scars on her arm and leg from the grafts and another on her throat from a tracheotomy. Nerve damage has affected her gums and teeth, which will require further treatment. Her next operation will involve debulking and reshaping her lip.
"My whole life has been affected by those ten minutes," she said. "I didn't see my little brothers for five weeks as I didn't want to scare them. All my family was amazing but I could tell they were terrified as well. Tesco has been amazing in supporting me through this. They gave me a career break, which gives me a full year off, so I know my job will be there when I'm ready to go back."
Samantha is now receiving regular therapy after struggling with anxiety and PTSD since the attack. "I get flashbacks of the dog's face jumping up at me," she added. "When I look in the mirror, I hate it. As of now, all of the lacerations have been stitched and my skin graft is healing nicely. I still don't have a lip. I just need to trust the process even though it can feel like it's going nowhere."
The dog is now being held in police custody at a kennel in Dundee. Samantha is raising money to help fund further treatment once her current round of operations is complete, particularly for the scars left by the attack.
