A Bite for Survival
www.baynews9.com
September 17, 2006, TAMPA BAY, FL - The scars and 100 stitches are the visual image, but the nightmare may take a while to filter from Danielle Nelson's memory.
Still, Nelson is thankful to have survived a brutal attack by a rottweiler and saved her goddaughter's life in the process.
"You couldn't see nothing but my vein and my bone and the tissue," Nelson said of the Friday attack by the 90-pound rottweiler.
Nelson came to a home in Tampa to pick up her friend who lived behind another house. She had to go through a gate to get there and didn't know she would be in for the fight of her life.
The rottweiler that's normally chained up behind this fence broke loose and went after Nelson. "I had to drag him with the gate and he still had my arm in his mouth and he wouldn't let go," Nelson said.
So she decided to bite back."I bit him on his lip and he was hollering," Nelson said. "And I wasn't going to let him go until he let me go."
It took a couple of seconds before the rottweiler let go. Eventually Nelson escaped, but not before the dog bit both her arms and her left leg.
Nelson has already had surgery and the pain from the attack wont go away.
"But I'm glad it was me attacked rather than the baby," Nelson said.
Nelson not only saved her life, she also saved 1-year-old Azarea. Nelson left 1-year-old Azarea in the car, which proved fortunate.
Azarea's mom was frantic when she heard the news because Nelson took the baby to the house with her. Nelson said Azarea was asleep, so she left the 1-year-old inside the car. That's an act that's usually frowned upon, but in this case it saved the baby from a vicious attack.
"I know if I had her she would have been dead today," Nelson said.
Since the attack, the rottweiler has been put to sleep. Animal Services said there's no record of any other complaints about the dog.
The animal's owners said they regret what happened.
