In Texas, a woman survived a harrowing encounter with eight pit bulls. It left her with horrifying injuries, but she's lucky to be alive.
52-year-old Michelle Means said she went outside when her neighbor's pack of pit bulls attacked and other members of her family. Means's daughter, who is pregnant, and her 13-year-old son also got mauled in the attack. Ultimately, she needed 180 stitches and 90 staples after the mauling.
Now, she's speaking out about the terrifying attack. She said that she thought she was going to die when the pit bulls attacked her.
"I just remembered I didn't want to die, but it seemed like I was going to," Means said to Fox 26. "They just started attacking, biting my head, my neck, my arms, my leg..."
Pit Bulls Atack Family
Means said that the dogs attacked without warning.
"I looked down at the brown and white dog, and it looked at me, and it's just like something snapped in its eyes, and it jumped up at that time and grabbed ahold of my face," Means recounted. "And within a couple of seconds, another one had grabbed a hold of my calf and I was on the ground."
The dogs ripped into her face and arms. It left her with horrific injuries.
"The dog had actually bitten off my lip, so they had to reattach my lip and sew all this up. A piece of my cheek was missing so they had to kind of pull the skins together," Means explained. "They're chomping down on you and just pulling you apart piece by piece."
Fortunately, a bystander came to their aid. He ended up scaring away the animals with a shovel. "Everywhere they bit they got down to it, but they didn't get muscle, they got down to the nerves, but they didn't get the nerves," Means said. "It could've been so much worse, and I realize how blessed I am to get out of it the way I did."
From there, Means and her children went to hospital. She ended up needing several surgeries.
"I just want people to be aware that it's not always about what the owners do and how good the owners are, sometimes even the best of dogs and break," Means said. "Even if a dog looks friendly, it doesn't mean it's friendly. Even if you don't provoke them, it doesn't mean they won't attack. I don't blame the owners, but I sure would hate for this to happen to anybody else."
