A nine-year-old boy escaped death by “a fraction” when savaged by a dog at a travelling fair in the West Midlands, it was revealed today.
The fangs of the rottweiler tore into the neck of terrified Jake Coxshall narrowly missing the vital carotid artery that takes blood to the head.
His horrified mother Stephanie Smith, 28, said today: “The doctors told us that it could have been fatal if the artery was hit. That is just too terrifying to think about.”
The attack came when she and partner Lee Coxshall, also 28, took Jake and their other child Grace aged ten months to the fair on a playing field in Great Bridge Road, Moxley.
Stephanie explained at their West Bromwich home: “We had been on the rides and decided to try the amusement arcade. I went to the kiosk to get some change to play the machines.
“The rottweiler was lying on the ground beside the kiosk and I stroked its head. Lee went past with Grace in the pushchair and Jake sat down beside the dog to wait for me. I was not worried because you do not expect vicious dogs at a fair where there are young children.
“Then I heard a commotion and turned to find a man pulling the dog away and Jake on his feet shouting ‘get me to hospital’. The dog had gone straight for his throat. Jake told me afterwards that it attacked him as he got up ready to go.
“As he moved away the rottweiler leapt up as his throat. Jake did not cry. He was in shock and stood there shaking. He was bleeding heavily from the right side of the neck.
“I was panic-stricken. It was every mother’s nightmare.”
Lee and Stephanie took Jake to hospital themselves.
Police swooped on the travelling fair next day. A rottweiler dog was seized and a man taken away for questioning.
The attack comes after the Express & Star revealed how a three-year-old girl is battling to save her sight after being mauled by a dog as she enjoyed a day in the park with her family.
Jessica Malhi was bitten in George Rose Park, Darlaston on Sunday.
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