Monday, June 1, 2020

Fletcher Got Attacked

I was supposed to be writing a fun birthday recap post today, but our weekend didn't go as planned.  Fletcher ended up in the Emergency Room Friday night and we're all still shaken up about it.

I always share the highs and lows of life here so I'm coming here today to document this..

Let's rewind back to Friday night.  It was Olive's birthday and we'd had a wonderful week celebrating her.  We were playing outside and enjoying the gorgeous weather.  We played in the driveway and some neighbors stopped to talk to us like they often do.

We were visiting, talking about Olive's birthday presents at the end of our driveway.  They had their dog with them like usual.  He had a tennis ball and Fletcher was carefully throwing it back and forth with the dog while he was on his leash.  Fletch was being careful and we were all right there.

I've replayed the next few minutes in my head a million times since Friday night.

It all happened so fast.

****Fletcher was attacked by our neighbor's dog.  We'd love your prayers for his healing.  If you don't want to read a play by play of the events of that awful night, stop reading here and we'd really appreciate you sending all your positive thoughts, prayers and well wishes his way!!****

Fletcher was done playing and we were all just standing there wrapping up our conversations.  Out of nowhere the neighbor's dog lunged at him.  The dog bit down on his right arm and drug him out to the street.

I've never seen an attack like this.  It was like something out of a movie.  The dog lunged to attack and then snatched Fletcher away from us.  We all screamed.  They jerked the dog back, he released Fletcher in the street and we are so thankful that the dog let him go.

Fletcher started screaming grabbing his arm.  Kevin was right there to scoop him up in the road.  I was holding Leo and trying to keep Olive away from the chaos.  When he got him back into our driveway, we quickly realized the severity of everything.  His arm had multiple puncture wounds and the blood was coming out of his arm like a fountain.  The dog was taken home with one of his owners.

Kevin handles emergencies really well and is super clear headed.  I am so glad he was right there, too.  I felt like I was moving and thinking in slow motion.  He took off his t-shirt right away and made a tourniquet around Fletcher's arm to try to stop the bleeding and stabilize his arm a bit.  I ran back to the house with Leo & Olive to get towels.  The dog owners were devastated.  They are our friends and we talk to them regularly.

Nearby neighbors heard all the commotion and came running to help.  They took care of the other kids while we tried to regroup and figure out the quickest way to get Fletcher to the hospital.  Fletcher was shaking, shivering and so upset.  He couldn't even process what had just happened to him.  He kept asking to please stay home and just put bandaids over the bites.  He hates bandaids so it was heartbreaking for him to offer to get those instead.  We reminded him that he'd need some medicine and smart doctors to help his arm to heal.  We were all in shock.  Olive stayed with a neighbor.  I loaded up all the boys and zoomed to the ER.  I called my parents crying on the way there and asked them to pray for Fletcher.

Due to COVID-19 only one parent was allowed at the ER with Fletcher.  I anticipated this and it broke my heart.  Fletcher was begging me to go with him and I knew I couldn't.  That was impossible to explain in the moment.  I dropped Kevin and Fletcher off at the ER doors and cried my whole way back home.  I hated leaving him there, but I knew Kevin would be the one who could handle this really tough situation best.  I'm also still nursing the baby and couldn't leave him.

I got home, retrieved Olive and we tried to settle down.  We talked about the events of the evening and tried to focus on the positive parts of her birthday instead of the attack.  We prayed for Fletcher and just hung out for a bit.  She said she wished there was a way to delete memories from your brain.  I called some friends to explain what was going on and asked them to come over and stay with Olive and Leo.  I knew I'd have to go and get the boys at some point.  They dropped everything and came over right away.  They helped with both kids while I was trying to stay connected with Kevin at the ER. 

Kevin was texting me pictures and keeping me in the loop.  Fletcher had arm x-rays done and thankfully nothing was broken.  I was so focused on all the blood that I hadn't even stopped to consider that this 60lb dog could have broken his arm in addition to biting him.  He had multiple puncture wounds and some would require stitches.  Everything had to be cleaned out and sterilized.  Kevin was asking me to pray for Fletcher because he was so upset and in lots of pain.  I was just nauseous about the whole thing.  This was his first ER visit where I couldn't be there to comfort him.
He later told me that each wound had to have a shot in it, be cleaned and flushed out.  He said it was just awful watching Fletcher go through that part.  I was hoping he could have some kind of sedation or sedative, but the doctors told Kevin they don't like to go that route. 

Finally around 12:15 Kevin called and said they were getting closer to getting released.  Fletcher had gotten 6-8 stitches in several different spots.  Fletcher was in really good spirits and was super chatty with me on the phone telling me all about this blue stuff that was now in his body (stitches), that shots made him cry super hard (he had to get a shot in every puncture wound), how he had to be super careful, that his belly hurt (he was also bit on his belly) and that he could not wait to see MOMMY!!  I waited in the parking lot until 1:30 when they were FINALLY released.

The hospital is understaffed right now.  It's not busy at all and that made everything move so slow.  Darn COVID!  I carefully gave Fletcher hugs and kisses and he fell asleep almost immediately when he got in the car.  We got home with him at about 2:00am.  Thanked our friends for staying with the other kids and put him to bed.

Kevin and I debriefed about the day.  Cried and just felt awful.  Fletcher is the sweetest, friendliest guy and we just hated seeing him go through this.  Kevin was sore from carrying Fletcher around all evening, sore from holding him down along with 3 other nurses for the procedures and tense from all the stress.

There's nothing we could have done to anticipate this attack.

This was a dog we were familiar with.  We were being careful and watching Fletcher closely.  We were in our driveway and all right there when it happened.  This was an attack and we were/still are having major parent guilt about it.  As parents, you just want to protect your kids from everything, but this attack felt extra awful.  The dog owners/our friends have done their best to make amends, apologize and no longer have the dog.

Given a few days to reflect on the attack, we are so thankful that the dog let go of him fairly quickly causing puncture wounds vs rips/tears.  Fletcher's injuries could have been catastrophic had he been shaken, been bit multiple times, etc.  We are thankful that the dog bit his arm instead of his neck or face.  We are really thankful his arm didn't get broken and that his wounds will heal.  We are very thankful for all the friends that stepped in to help us that night.

We've decided that we will be extra cautious around dogs and our kids from now on.  I know that most dogs are good dogs, but after witnessing this, we will always have our kids be friendly, but extra careful around dogs.  A lot of people are out and about with their dogs now that the weather is nicer so we'll have plenty of opportunities to practice being careful around dogs this Summer.

Prayer requests:
1. Fast healing for Fletcher.  He can't take a bath or swim until everything heals.
2. Easy removal of his stitches.  He had a really tough time when he got his staples removed last summer so I'm dreading this a bit.
3. Healing for all of us.  We're all traumatized.  I don't want him to fear dogs, just to be careful around them from now on.

Kevin texted me these pictures from the hospital.  I wont publish any of his arm.

Fletch had gotten so upset and cried so hard that he wore himself out.

Ready to see Mommy!!!  1:30am

The boys slept in until noon the next day.  Fletcher woke up in pain in the middle of the night, but was able to fall back to sleep after some medicine.

My parents surprised Fletcher with the sweetest balloon bouquet and bear on Saturday.  He loved it.


We have to keep his arm wrapped and check on his bites every day.  We are trying hard to make sure he takes it easy.  Puppy got a matching arm wrap.  He also gave himself "treasure map" tattoos on both of his legs :)


 We tried to take it easy the rest of the weekend to recoup from this scary, scary experience.

14 comments:

  1. Oh Whitney. I am so so sorry this happened!!! I am so thankful Fletcher is okay- and that you and Kevin were together when it happened so that y’all could manage it as best as you can in such a scary, out of nowhere situation. I know healing from this will take some time...praying for you all and also feeling so grateful Fletcher is such a little warrior and is doing ok 💛

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  2. Oh Whitney, I'm so sorry! I really don't have any words of comfort except to say that I will be praying for sweet Fletcher. There isn't anything you could have done differently, and thank God it wasn't worse. I hope you all will get plenty of rest this week. Sending love and prayers.

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  3. Oh my word, my heart hurts for that sweet boy. I was attached by a dog when I was 9 and even though it was extremely traumatic, I have never had a great fear of dogs. I know my mom's prayer for me was to not have that fear! Trauma Life essential oil from young living is wonderful for these types of traumas. Prayers and love to you all.

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  4. Oh my goodness. I am so sorry that happened to him. Praying for a speedy recovery!

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  5. Oh Whitney, I am just so sorry this happened to you all!! It sounds absolutely frightening and I can only imagine what it was like for you to go through that horrible experience. So glad that Kevin was there so that you didn’t have to handle it by yourself, and how FRUSTRATING to not be able to be with him in the emergency room. Please keep me updated, and I am praying for him and for all of you!

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  6. Oh my gosh I just can't even imagine. My prayers are with all of you especially Fletcher and Olive. Thank God you & your husband were both there. And your poor neighbors I can't image how horrible they feel. Prayers for you all.

    xoxo

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  7. Prayers for your sweet Fletcher!

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  8. Prayers from Houston! I enjoy your blog and hated to see this happen!

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  9. I am sorry that you had to through this. Glad that he is on the mend. I know how hard it is when your kid get hurt.

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  10. I am so sorry. I know how awful it is. When Joey was 2 (now 11) my sister in law
    and family were visiting from Indy with their very big dog. We were all sitting in my backyard in a circle visiting. Joey had his toy hammer in his arm as he always did at that age. The dog lunged at him and ripped his upper lip leaving it hanging there. I've never seen so much blood in my life. We all freaked out. My husband is amazing under pressure too. Thank God! We went to one hospital and they said they couldn't care for him there and that we needed to go to the Children's Hospital further away. My poor baby had his upper lip sewed back on. It was awful to watch him go through that. What made it worse was 2 weeks prior to that he fell off a small slide at a Memorial Day party at the lake and had his arm in a cast. We are wonderful parents and I'm super over protective although we can't control everything. God healed my baby from both accidents and we are forever grateful. He was very skiddish around dogs for a long time but now is completely over his fear. (Mommy not so much). He wanted the get a Rottweiler last year but we settled on a Yorkie and a Mini Golden Doddle ....;)

    Kids are so resilient!
    I will pray for your baby to get through this just like mine did and Mommy and Daddy too!
    Hang in there Mama and don't doubt what amazing parents you both are ❤️

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  11. I am sorry to hear about Fletcher being attacked. You definitely opened my eyes about what can happen quickly with any dog. Thank you for sharing and I pray that your sweet boy makes a complete recovery physically and psychogically.

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  12. Oh my word! I am so sorry that all of you had to go through this. I pray that Fletcher is healing well and in good spirits! Big hugs!

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  13. I'm so glad he's going to be okay! Two of my neighbors were attacked by two dogs a few weeks ago. It was a scary scene.

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  14. I know this is a bit late, but hope Fletcher is doing okay. I've never been through that scenario but I can imagine it was super scary.

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