A pensioner had to have a dog’s jaws prised off her in an attack that ripped her scalp down to the skull.
Jacqueline McGrew, 75, was savaged by a neighbour’s animal, which was seized by police. Officers say they believe it may be a pitbull-type breed.
Her son Andrew, 53, said: “My mum put her head down to protect herself and has been bitten on the scalp.
“The scalp had gone. It was down to the skull. She has had her nose reconstructed and an operation on her head.”
Mrs McGrew, awarded the British Empire Medal in 2012 for her community work, did not have to wait for an ambulance. Her son said: “Luckily, a paramedic across the road heard her screaming. She put her into the car and drove her straight to hospital.
“I then got a phone call at work to say my mum had been bitten.
“I thought it might have been on her leg or hand. I didn’t realise how bad it would be when I walked in to see her. It was a right mess. Her clothes were covered in blood. The dog had even bitten through her phone.”
The dog, called Kia, is understood to have attacked Mrs McGrew in the front garden of her neighbour David Gorton in Blackburn, Lancs, as she tried to deliver something to the property.
Mr Gorton has described prising open the pet’s jaws after it sank its teeth into her head. He told the Mirror’s sister website Lancs Live: “I was upstairs and I just heard this strange noise and I thought ‘what the hell is that?’
“It all happened so quick, I heard all the commotion and ran outside and she was on the ground. The other two dogs were shaking. I had to shove my hands in the dog’s mouth to get her off. Kia is my son Sonny’s dog and he’s had her since she was a baby.”
David, who has a “Beware of dogs” sign on his gate, added: “The police also took Nala, our two-year-old, even though she had nothing to do with it.
“Kia’s been seized and tested before after she attacked another dog but they gave her back to us and said she wasn’t a pitbull so I don’t understand why they’ve said they’re believed to be pit bull-type breeds. Sonny said straight after it happened that he was going to take Kia to the vet to have her put down.
“But we said to wait and let the police deal with it.” After Tuesday’s attack a police spokesman said: “A woman aged in her 70s had been attacked by two dogs in the front garden of an address in Devon Road. The woman suffered serious head and facial injuries.”
He said she was treated at Royal Blackburn Hospital and confirmed that two dogs had been seized. An investigation is under way, he added.
Det Sgt Peter Davies said: “The woman involved was believed to be making a delivery to the address when she was attacked.
“She has suffered significant, life-changing injuries.
“Our thoughts are with her and her family at this time.”
