Tennessee mom loses leg in attack by her own pit bull that left limb ‘basically hanging off’
Amanda Mears, 42, had her leg amputated after her own dog savagely locked its jaws around her limb. gofundme
A Tennessee mother had to have her leg amputated after her pit bull attacked her, leaving the limb “hanging on by a thread” as she tried to break up a dogfight at her home.
Amanda Mears, 42, was preparing to take her mixed American Pit Bull-American Staffordshire, Dennis, for a walk when he lunged at Ralphie, an American Bully who had escaped from a bedroom in Mears’ Murfreesboro home, according to The Mirror.
As Mears, a health care worker, tried to separate the dogs, Dennis bit into her left leg and refused to release his grip. In a desperate attempt to free herself, she used her other leg and arms to choke the dog.
“When he charged at my other dog, I got in between them, and that’s when Dennis latched onto my leg and would not let go,” Mears said. “I was a bit scared, but I’ve broken up dog fights before, and I didn’t feel any pain because of the adrenaline. I ended up having to hook my right leg and my arms around him and choked him out to get him off me.”
During the struggle, Dennis also bit her left hand and crushed the bone in her right arm, injuries she only realized after breaking free. She rushed to a Nashville hospital, where doctors found her leg severely mangled. She faced a choice: undergo multiple surgeries over two years or have the leg amputated.
“I wasn’t able to stand up because my leg was basically hanging off,” Mears recalled. “I decided to have my leg amputated because saving it would have meant 12 more surgeries and constant pain.”
Three days later, Mears had her leg removed below the knee and also underwent surgery on her arms. A GoFundMe page was created to help cover her medical expenses, and she is expected to be fitted for a prosthetic.
To protect her 10-year-old son, Mears made the difficult decision to euthanize Dennis.
“Dennis has always been the sweetest dog; he’d never been aggressive before,” she said. “I decided to have Dennis put down, which was hard. He was my best friend, and I raised him from two weeks old. It was a decision that hurt, but it was not a difficult decision.”
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