Boy, 3, nearly loses an arm after being viciously mauled by dog in his own home

A three-year-old boy nearly lost his arm after being viciously mauled by a dog.

Xavier Carr, from Cincinnati in Ohio, US was attacked in his own home while his family was dog-sitting a Belgian Malinois on March 2.

Dad Joshua rushed over to his son when he heard him "screaming at the top of his lungs".

He immediately took off his belt and wrapped it around Xavier's arm to try and stop the bleeding as "there was a huge puddle of blood underneath of him".

Joshua said: "As cliche as it sounds, I immediately thought of Grey's Anatomy, and I took my belt off that I was wearing and wrapped it around his arm to stop the bleeding as I was calling 911."

Mum Christine Carr said her son's arm was hanging on by 2 layers of muscle (Newsflash)

Doctors have reportedly said that the dad's quick thinking probably saved his son's life after his belt helped stop the bleeding.

Xavier has now undergone multiple operations in a bid to reconnect his limb, which was reportedly only connected to the rest of his body by two inches of muscle and skin.

A fundraiser on GoFundMe set up by his parents Christine and Joshua had raised $1,340 (£1,100) out of a $25,000 (£20,000) goal at the time of writing.

There was a huge puddle of blood underneath the toddler after the vicious attack (CEN)

The summary said: "Hello, Our names are Christine and Joshua, Our 3-year-old son Xavier was attacked by a dog on Thursday, March 2nd. His arm was hanging on by 2 layers of muscle.

"He has already gone under many surgeries with many more to come. Including the reconstruction of the arm taking the skin, nerves, and muscles from other parts of his body to reconstruct the arm back together.

"The goal of raising funds is to provide Xavier with all the help that he can get with medical bills for the rest of his life, therapy, physical therapies and much much more.

Xavier has undergone multiple operations in a bid to reconnect his limb (CEN)

"Our family has already received a tremendous amount of support and prayers helping us through this tragic time and do not want the support to stop.

"Xavier is going to be dealing with this tragedy for the rest of his life."

The family are hopeful that Xavier will be able to regain some function in his arm as he prepares for his next treatment.

The dog has reportedly been put down after the vicious incident.