Friday, May 16, 1997
Student rescues child from attacking dog
By LORETTA FULTON / Abilene Reporter-News
EASTLAND - An Eastland High School senior is credited with
disregarding her own safety to pull a boy away from a dog that
had attacked him.
Last Sunday evening, Lacey Turner was driving home when she
saw Caleb Panzera, 4-1/2, being mauled by a chow inside a fenced
yard.
"I just heard a little boy screaming," Turner said.
She jumped from her pickup, ran to the yard and, after struggling
with the gate, managed to get in.
"I went in there and kicked the dog to get him off,"
Turner said.
Turner, who will attend South Plains Junior College in preparation
for becoming a nurse, said she hoped the dog would turn on her
and leave the boy alone.
She said the incident happened so fast, she didn't have time
to think about it and is somewhat surprised by the praise she
is getting for her selfless actions.
"It makes me feel good - I'm just glad I was there,"
she said.
Others are glad she was there, too. Mark Pipkin, a volunteer
fireman and emergency care attendant who lives at the end of the
block, was the first on the scene to assist.
After treatment at the scene, the youngster was flown by helicopter
to Hendrick Medical Center where he was in stable condition Thursday.
Pipkin said the child suffered a broken arm and severe bites
on the arm, back of the head and neck.
"Evidently, it was a pretty bad tear and bite," Pipkin
said.
The dog, which belongs to the child's grandparents, is being
held for observation, said Police Chief Cecil Funderburgh.
Also on Sunday on the other side of town another chow attacked
a teen-age boy. That dog, too, was owned by the boy's grandparents.
The incidents were unrelated and involved different families,
Funderburgh said.
"That dog has already been destroyed," Funderburgh
said. He did not know the teen's identity but said he received
some stitches and was released at Eastland Memorial Hospital.
Funderburgh said he has contacted the city manager to see if
some type of recognition can be given to Turner for her quick
and unselfish actions.
"It was fantastic," he said. "We certainly need
to do something for her."
Pipkin agreed.
"We felt like the girl really went above and beyond the
call of duty," he said.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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