A St. Johns County family says their 3-year-old son was viciously attacked by a dog and underwent emergency surgery that required dozens of stitches last week.
The boy’s mother, Jordan Wilkinson, said her son, Alaric, had been playing outside with two of his siblings when the animal suddenly latched onto his face last week on their Hastings property.
Alaric’s 10-year-old brother was able to wrench the animal off, but not before the toddler suffered severe injuries to his face, ear and back.
The mother described rushing to her son’s side and holding him as he bled heavily, fearing he might not survive the mauling.
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Emergency crews arrived and the child was flown to a hospital, where doctors reattached his ear and closed multiple lacerations, according to the GoFundMe post.
“I am so grateful that my son is alive,” his mom wrote. “I am thankful my son is recovering. I sit here and think about all the parents who aren’t that lucky, and my heart aches for them.”
Wilkinson wrote that her family rents a home on the same property as the dog’s owner, who lives in a nearby camper.
The animal had been chained, but somehow got loose, she said.
Beyond the physical trauma, the mother described the emotional toll of the attack, recalling the moment she realized she was covered in her child’s blood at the hospital.
“My son’s medical bills will be coming in soon, though he has insurance, it is only going to cover a little bit of it,” she wrote in her plea for help. “To make things worse, we are both now out of work. The realization has set in that the bills don’t stop because of a tragedy.”
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