July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
We can't protect all the time (03/02/2009)
As I See It
By By DIANA DOLECKI-
It was an accident.
It wasn't anyone's fault. Sometimes bad things just happen.
It was an accident. The dog didn't mean it ... maybe.
Last weekend my granddaughter, Emma, became one of the 4.7 million people annually who are bitten by a dog. The family dog inflicts most dog bites, and this was no exception. There are injuries just below and to the side of her eye, a tooth or perhaps a claw managed to go clear through her cheek/upper lip right by her smile line and part of her lower lip is missing.
There are many guesses as to how this happened. As the only ones who truly know are barely three years old it is not likely that the full truth will ever come out.
Emma was at her father's parent's house. She was in the yard playing with her three-year-old cousin, Camden. Aunt Jennifer, Camden's mother, went into the house for a second to get a diaper for her other child. That is all it took.
The four family dogs were either fighting or playing rough and Emma somehow got in the middle. Or maybe not. As I said the story varies and the facts of what happened in those few seconds may never be known.
As a result Emma had her first ride in an ambulance. She was transferred to Children's Hospital where she was given morphine and stitched up.
Both sides of her family were there. She received balloons, coloring pages and flowers, among other things.
She went home the same evening. Except for a "magic button" (scar) where part of her lower lip used to be she is fine. She chatters (loudly) and plays just like she always did. She is not nearly as traumatized as the rest of us are.
She had an appointment with a plastic surgeon to find out if any further action will be taken. For now, they have decided to do nothing.
It only took a few seconds. When I think of all the times I let my own three-year-old daughter out to play I am so grateful that nothing like this ever happened to her.
It was nothing for her and the neighbor boy to go next door to his house then the two of them would gather a few more children and make the rounds of the neighborhood before coming back home. The oldest child in this roving band of kids was four.
When my daughter was in preschool her head was split open because another girl bonked her with a slide. I didn't find out what had actually happened until she was almost grown. She didn't want to get the other girl in trouble. I am still unclear as to how one gets bonked with a slide.
The point is that no matter how hard we try we cannot, repeat, cannot protect our children every second of every day. We can and should try our best but sometimes bad things happen.
For the record the dog was a black Labrador retriever. This breed is known for being gentle with children. I grew up with a Sheltie-mix named Lassie. I have had several dogs in my lifetime and none of them have bitten me.
Dogs are neither inherently bad nor dangerous any more than cats are. It should be remembered that they are still animals and not people. In January of 2009 dogs killed five Americans. According to statistics we all have a one in 50 chance of being bitten by a dog each year.
It was nobody's fault that my granddaughter became a statistic. It is impossible to watch a child every second of every day.
Children can and do get hurt simply because they are children and don't always know enough to be careful. The good thing is that children are remarkably resilient and heal quickly.
We are grateful to her guardian angel for keeping the injuries to a minimum and away from her eye. We are also grateful that her bubbly personality is still intact and she can still wear her princess crown.
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It wasn't anyone's fault. Sometimes bad things just happen.
It was an accident. The dog didn't mean it ... maybe.
Last weekend my granddaughter, Emma, became one of the 4.7 million people annually who are bitten by a dog. The family dog inflicts most dog bites, and this was no exception. There are injuries just below and to the side of her eye, a tooth or perhaps a claw managed to go clear through her cheek/upper lip right by her smile line and part of her lower lip is missing.
There are many guesses as to how this happened. As the only ones who truly know are barely three years old it is not likely that the full truth will ever come out.
Emma was at her father's parent's house. She was in the yard playing with her three-year-old cousin, Camden. Aunt Jennifer, Camden's mother, went into the house for a second to get a diaper for her other child. That is all it took.
The four family dogs were either fighting or playing rough and Emma somehow got in the middle. Or maybe not. As I said the story varies and the facts of what happened in those few seconds may never be known.
As a result Emma had her first ride in an ambulance. She was transferred to Children's Hospital where she was given morphine and stitched up.
Both sides of her family were there. She received balloons, coloring pages and flowers, among other things.
She went home the same evening. Except for a "magic button" (scar) where part of her lower lip used to be she is fine. She chatters (loudly) and plays just like she always did. She is not nearly as traumatized as the rest of us are.
She had an appointment with a plastic surgeon to find out if any further action will be taken. For now, they have decided to do nothing.
It only took a few seconds. When I think of all the times I let my own three-year-old daughter out to play I am so grateful that nothing like this ever happened to her.
It was nothing for her and the neighbor boy to go next door to his house then the two of them would gather a few more children and make the rounds of the neighborhood before coming back home. The oldest child in this roving band of kids was four.
When my daughter was in preschool her head was split open because another girl bonked her with a slide. I didn't find out what had actually happened until she was almost grown. She didn't want to get the other girl in trouble. I am still unclear as to how one gets bonked with a slide.
The point is that no matter how hard we try we cannot, repeat, cannot protect our children every second of every day. We can and should try our best but sometimes bad things happen.
For the record the dog was a black Labrador retriever. This breed is known for being gentle with children. I grew up with a Sheltie-mix named Lassie. I have had several dogs in my lifetime and none of them have bitten me.
Dogs are neither inherently bad nor dangerous any more than cats are. It should be remembered that they are still animals and not people. In January of 2009 dogs killed five Americans. According to statistics we all have a one in 50 chance of being bitten by a dog each year.
It was nobody's fault that my granddaughter became a statistic. It is impossible to watch a child every second of every day.
Children can and do get hurt simply because they are children and don't always know enough to be careful. The good thing is that children are remarkably resilient and heal quickly.
We are grateful to her guardian angel for keeping the injuries to a minimum and away from her eye. We are also grateful that her bubbly personality is still intact and she can still wear her princess crown.
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