A young girl has been scarred for life after a dog belonging to her mum’s best friend ripped her bottom lip off in a horrifying attack.
Amanda Ellison, 27, was visiting a friend in Pennsylvania, USA, with her daughters seven-year-old Delani, seven, and Serenity, five, when they settled down for a meal.
Her friend’s Labrador was kept away from them all behind a baby gate but when they cleared their plates the animal managed to sneak past.
Seeing the dog approach her sister, Delani attempted to shoo him away, causing the animal to bite her face, tearing off her lip and a chunk of her right cheek.
Amanda rushed back in to find her stunned daughter on the floor with blood pouring from her wounds.
The single mum said: "I heard the growl and snap, and I can still hear it in my head. When I heard it, I just ran immediately towards her and saw blood pouring from her face.
"You could see the artery in her cheek pulsating. I actually found the piece of her lip on the kitchen floor.
"At our house, when Delani's done eating, she's supposed to get up from the table and go and find something to do until her siblings have finished eating.
"So out of habit she got up and opened the baby gate to go into the living room and the dog went into the kitchen.
"He went over to Serenity and was acting a little weird - he wouldn't sit and wouldn't leave the kitchen.
"He didn't move, so Delani reached out to him and as soon as she put her hand out, he jumped up at her and bit her.
"Later on she said 'I remember when the dog was shaking my head from side to side.'"
Intensive case manager Amanda rushed Delani to Hershey Medical Center in central Pennsylvania, US, where she stayed for five days before undergoing plastic surgery to repair her bottom lip.
A month on from her ordeal on August 5, the mum says Delani is healing, but requires further surgery and counselling sessions.
She added: “She's right at that age where she's starting to be conscious of herself and now she's second-guessing people.
"I took her to the park last week and she asked me if we could go home. I asked why and she said 'I think that girl's staring at my face'.
"She's okay at home because we treat the scar as normal, but we've been in Walmart with grown adults staring at her and making faces.
"To have to pull aside another adult and explain it to them is just not appropriate or okay."
Incredibly, Amanda says her daughter doesn't hold any fear or grudges against dogs, even requesting to see the hospital's therapy pooch.
She said: "Delani doesn't hold any fear or grudges, which really surprises me, it shows a lot about her character.
"She still loves dogs. At the hospital there was a therapy dog, and I told her that if she didn't want the dog to come in to just let me know.
"She said, 'I want the doggy to come see me', and she was there because of a dog bite."
Pennsylvania State Police confirmed they attended an address on August 6 for reports of a dog bite on a young female that occurred on August 5.
A Pennsylvania State Police spokesman said: "The case is still open, no charges have been filed."
