Alice's Story

It was a perfectly normal day and I was chilling out with my friends down at our local park. It started to get late and a bit cold we decided to go back to my house, but as we got up to go I could hear people behind us.

There were four or five guys there, drunk and with bags full of alcohol. With them, were two huge Rottweiler dogs off their leads. There were four of us girls and naturally we were feeling a bit sheepish being in the park with these guys and their big dogs, so we tried to hurry up and get away. That's where the drama started.

My fiery temper

One of the guys realised we were trying to get away from them, so they started coming near us. We walked faster and that's when they started yelling disgusting things at us, addressing me as the 'little blonde one'.

I have a naturally fiery temper so when one yelled something particularly vulgar, I turned around and told him to get lost.

I immediately regretted my decision because the next thing I remember is one of the Rottweilers hurtling towards me, snarling and bearing its teeth. As I turned and stupidly tried to run, all I felt was a tearing sensation in the back of my knees as both legs collapsed from beneath me.

Some names have been changed.

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Panic

The guys herded the dogs back and ran off back into the park, while my friends panicked and tried to move me away. My boyfriend lived two minutes away so they managed to carry me to his house where they knew they could call an ambulance for me.

I kept drifting in and out of consciousness as I lost more blood and all I can remember is my friends telling my boyfriend what happened whilst crying hysterically, and two paramedics piling me into the back of an ambulance.

Plaster and slings

When I woke up in hospital, both of my legs were bound up in plaster and elevated on slings. I was told that the dogs had severed the tendons in both of my knees, meaning there was nothing there to allow my legs to keep me upright.

I had to have several tetanus injections so I didn't get any infections from the dogs. I then had to have six weeks of physiotherapy to regain the strength back in my legs so I could walk again.

Still healing

Four months on and I still walk on crutches, but I can't walk for long distances. I've never been back to that park and, naturally, I now have a terrible fear of any dogs.

I partly blame myself for egging the guys on with my big mouth, so my advice to girls is to be careful when they go out, especially after dark, and to avoid confrontational situations.