A petrified schoolboy has been scarred for life after being attacked by a dangerous dog – which left him needing 80 stitches in his lip.
Kyle Willets, 12, was gnawed by a Japanese Akita which ripped off the skin from his face.
He needed reconstructive surgery and was left drinking through a straw.
The incident happened during a play fight with his pals at a friend‘s house and he ran home with blood pouring from his face.
The dog‘s owner was so horrified by the attack it was put down within hours of the incident in Blackburn, Lancs.
His mum Natalie Horner, 32, said: “Kyle was covered in blood – it was all down his clothes.
“I was so worried about what was going to happen – I was just thinking ‘is he going to lose his face?’
“After all it is your looks you have for the rest of your life and he’s still only young.”
Kyle and his friends had been play fighting and wrestling when one threw him onto the sofa.
The dog then jumped up and bit the schoolboy on the face – sinking a tooth below his chin and chomping at his lip in a scissor-like clamp.
Kyle’s friend came to his aid and pulled the dog away before it could do more damage.
Describing the incident, Natalie said: “The dog just latched onto his cheek and went for his nose.
“All of his upper lip, under his nose and his chin were slashed. The tooth mark goes down underneath his chin.
“He was in a lot of pain and I thought he was going to pass out because of all the blood.”
Kyle fled the house and ran the five minute journey home with no shoes on.
Mother-of-four Natalie was also in shock at the sight of her son as he arrived home and phoned for an ambulance.
NHS technician Natalie said: “I hope I never see anything like that again – it really scared me.
“When he ran out of the house all the kids on the estate were screaming because they saw him with blood dripping down his face.”
Kyle was blue-lighted to Royal Blackburn Hospital – but was transferred to Manchester Children’s Hospital where he was taken to theatre the same night.
Surgeons worked on the youngster’s wound during a delicate three-hour operation to sew the skin below his nose back together.
Speaking about her son’s recovery, Natalie said: “When the stitches come out he will be left permanently scarred and he will have another operation this week for his top lip.
“The look on his face when he first saw himself after the operation was heart-breaking.
“We gave him five minutes and he said ‘It is bad, isn’t it. Will it always stay like this?’
“He is having to drink through a straw and eat weetabix and mashed potato, but he is a trouper.”
Natalie, who has two dogs herself, said the owner took the dog to be destroyed straight after it had bitten Kyle on Monday (July 25) at around 1.30pm.
Kyle had slept over at his friend’s house where the incident happened the night before and said that he knew the dog very well.
Speaking about the owner’s decision to destroy the dog, Natalie said: “Kyle was quite worried about what his friends would think because the dog was destroyed.
“But when a dog has bitten once – that is it. I would have done the same thing.”
She added: “I just want to make people are aware no dog is to be trusted – I would not wish what happened to Kyle to on anyone.”
A Lancashire Police spokesperson said: “The dog has been put down and there will be no further action taken against the owner.”
