A six-year-old Maine girl was left devastated after a pit bull attack that ripped her face to such an extent that she will never be able to smile again.
Lily Norton required a staggering 1,000 stitches to mend the lacerations that stretched from under her eyes all the way up to her throat. Alarmingly, it was so severe she had to be flown out of town for emergency surgery which went on for 11 hours, as The Sun Journal reported.
CJ Pitcher, a dear family friend and creator of the charity fundraiser for Lily, revealed to us that her doctors had declared she would never smile again due to the amount of damage.
“Her salivary glands aren’t working … and doctors said she won’t be able to smile again,” Pitcher said. “Muscles are too damaged.”
Pitcher mentioned Lily will need to remain sedated for at least seven days in order to stop her from scratching her face. Dorothy Norton, the little girl’s mother, revealed that while she is asleep, Lily will require a breathing tube as a precautionary measure.
“She’s still sedated because she has a breathing tube in,” her mom said. “But other than that, she’s really good. She looks really good.”
On Feb. 18, while Lily was attending a playdate at her friend’s house, the family was reportedly taking care of a pit bull when tragedy struck.
“They were going to play cards at the table, so she sat down at the table, the friend went and got the cards, and then as soon as the friend walked back in the room, she screamed to her mom because the dog had Lily in her mouth,” Norton stated.
Quickly, the friend’s mother took Lily to a nearby medical facility; shortly after, she was rushed by helicopter to Boston Children’s Hospital.
“She’s so energetic. She loves to be outside, loves it. And she doesn’t hate all dogs, at least that’s what she told me. She just doesn’t want to see that one again,” Norton stated.
Officer Dexter “Buzz” Bridges, the animal control officer for Chesterville, Maine, revealed to The Sun Journal that an investigation into the attack is still underway.
