A six-year-old boy was subjected to a vicious dog attack in his home, with the pet tearing off part of his scalp.
The Staffie, which was bought off Facebook two weeks earlier for only £200, jumped onto Vick Zidko and dragged him down a set of stairs. The young lad was screaming in terror while the pet dog scratched and bit his head and back.
Vick's family rushed to save his life by forcing open the American Staffordshire terrier's jaws which had clamped themselves on the boy. His mother attempted to calm down Vick after he was safe from the pet, the Mirror reports.
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Following the encounter, Vick asked his mum: "Mummy, am I dying?” He spent the next five days in hospitals where medics worked to reattach the part of his scalp that had been torn off.
In the end, Vick had to receive more than 50 stitches on his head and face while also suffering deep cuts on his back. Now, Vick's family want to speak out in the hopes of preventing more aggressive dog attacks.
His dad Vitalijus said: “It’s a nightmare and we never want any other family to go through this.” The forklift driver said they thought "long and hard" about buying a dog.
It wasn't until they saw a Facebook post from a breeder who was selling a Staffie pup for £200 that they made their decision. “When we saw him he was really soft and jumping around. He captured our hearts," the 41-year-old said.
“But after we got him home it became apparent he was completely untrained.”
Vick’s sister Gabriel, 18, said: “Vick came down the stairs quietly and Diesel started barking. He pounced on Vick, dragging him down two of the stairs. It was as if he saw Vick as a chew toy. He was ragging him about and scratching him.
“I started screaming and my stepdad [Vitalijus] and mum ran in. What sticks in my brain was my little brother pleading ‘stop, Diesel, stop’. I was trying to get the dog off. My mum was screaming ‘Oh my God, stop stop stop’.
“My stepdad jumped in front of me and tried choking the dog out, and that’s when my mum scooped Vick up. My stepdad told me to call an ambulance and he put [the dog] in the bathroom.”
Vick's dad also needed treatment for his arm after he put it in the dog's mouth to stop it from continuing its attack on his son. Gabriel added: "All I heard was my mum’s screams because she had seen the injuries.”
Mum Eugenija, 41, wept as she recalled the attack. She said: “I grabbed Vick and ran to the bedroom, locking the door. I was trying to calm him down. I put a towel on his head to stop the bleeding. He saw all the blood and said, ‘Mummy, am I dying?’.
“Then he asked is [his twin brother] Nick and Gabriel OK.” A piece of Vick's scalp ended up on the floor of the family home.
It was later taken to hospital after being placed in a bag of frozen chips. Eugenija, who moved to the UK from Lithuania 20 years ago, said: “The doctors could not believe how Vick kept smiling. He’s my superman.
He’s having bad dreams and said he sees a ‘doggy attacking me again’.
“He said, ‘Promise me we’ll have no more dogs in our house’. The medics and our neighbours were amazing. He has to go back for another operation, we think.”
The dog was eventually taken by police and put to sleep.
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