A man mauled by an 80lb dog while taking out his bins has been left with a three-inch-deep cavity beneath the skin of his leg.
Tim Riley was still wearing his pyjamas when the animal reportedly charged at him without barking or warning.
The dog bit him repeatedly before clamping its jaws around his leg and twisting its head.
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Tim desperately tried to fight the pet off, claiming he was forced to ram his hand through its teeth before pinning the animal down and choking it as he screamed for help.
Five minutes later, a neighbour finally arrived and helped pull the dog away.
Tim has since been unable to walk properly, drive, or work.
“I woke up and did that thing where you frantically remember that you need to take the trash to the curb and you’re deeply hoping you didn’t already miss the trash guy,” Tim, a fashion designer and Uber driver from Boise, Idaho, US, told Need To Know.
“I quickly rushed outside still in my clothes from sleeping and started pulling the trash and recycling containers across the gravel.
“I suddenly heard something, looked up and saw a dog charging straight at me.
“No bark, no warning charge, just straight-up beast-mode attack.
“The 80lb dog went multiple times for my face as I fought, smacking and elbowing to deflect his bites.
“Then he suddenly changed direction and went for the inside of my leg above the knee.
“I’m not sure how many times he bit me on my leg, but it was enough that in the end there were 12 puncture wounds in my leg alone.
“I pinned him down and was choking him out.
“All I could see was blood everywhere and I could feel his teeth digging into my leg.
“I was crying out for help.”
The attack from the dog, allegedly identified by animal control as a bulldog-type canine, also left Tim with wounds to his stomach and hand.
Tim claims the neighbour who assisted him appeared to be familiar with the dog and escorted it back to its home across the street.
Another neighbour called emergency services.
But Tim’s ordeal did not end when he left the emergency room.
Eleven days into his recovery, he woke in severe pain and discovered that one puncture wound had begun bleeding again.
A wound clinic found a haematoma inside it and had to release the pressure, drain the blood and pack the injury.
Staff at the clinic measured a hollow space beneath his skin – extending roughly eight inches to the left of the smaller fang-entry wound, three inches to the right, three inches upwards, three inches downwards and three inches deep.
Tim described it as a “cave” inside his leg “the size of a few racquetballs side by side”.
The incident happened at approximately 8am on 15 July on Tim’s property.
He now attends wound-care appointments every day, where the main hole in his leg is flushed and repacked so it can heal from the inside.
The fashion designer and Uber driver said: “It’s pretty gnarly.
“They pack the literal holes in my leg, trying to get them to heal from the inside out.”
Over two weeks after the attack, Tim still could not bend his leg and described walking as a “slow-motion shuffle with a leg drag”.
The injuries have also left him facing a mounting financial crisis.
His initial hospital charges sit at $25,169.65 – although this is not necessarily the final amount he will owe.
The figure does not represent the costs associated with his recovery, including ambulance transportation, continuing wound care and any future treatment.
Tim supplements his income by driving for Uber several evenings a week.
He also operates clothing and skateboard-related businesses and says he has had to miss four events that would normally each generate hundreds of dollars in revenue, and is concerned about missing further events.
Hoping for help from the public, he has launched a fundraiser with an initial emergency goal of $10,000 to help with treatment, lost wages, transport and everyday expenses while he recovers.
It has raised $2,827 from 18 donations at the time of writing.
Tim added: “If I hadn’t set up this GoFundMe and received the little bit of money that has already come in, I would’ve already been over a month behind on rent and not able to pay my other bills.
“I’m thankful for what I’ve gotten so far, and it’s definitely crucial for me going forward.”
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