On the day of the attack, the plaintiff, a former social worker, was at the home of the defendants attending a backyard barbecue and family gathering. The dog approached the victim while she was holding her one month old granddaughter. In order to protect her granddaughter from the dog, she turned to the right at which point the dog jumped onto her right hip with both front paws, scratching the granddaughter's left lower leg. As she continued to raise her granddaughter over her head as high as possible, the dog bit into her right leg between the calf and the ankle, and locked its jaws on her leg. The dog sunk its teeth into the plaintiff's leg for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, during which time she went into shock and struggled to remain afoot, in order to avoid being further mangled. She was able to hand off her granddaughter to another relative, after which the dog was struck with a shovel so that it would release her leg.
Newark Police arrived and took the plaintiff to University Hospital in severe shock with significant exposed muscle and bone from large lacerations of the right ankle and leg. The dog bite was so vicious that it actually fractured the tibial shaft, exposed muscle and nerves, and caused substantial wounds of the entire leg from mid calf to the ankle. The plaintiff was hospitalized from September 4 to 10, 2005, during which time dead tissue had to be debrided and numerous sutures had to be applied to the wounds. Ultimately, on September 9, 2005, further surgery was required to repair nine separate wounds located circumferentially around the lower leg, and a split-thickness skin graft was taken from the right upper thigh and used to cover three separate skin defects where muscle tissue had been totally disrupted and removed.
The plaintiff required substantial plastic surgical care over the next year, and is in need of further surgical revision in the future. The scars are depressed and hyperpigmented, and remained very visible. Further, the plaintiff was required to use crutches for several months, remaining homebound throughout that time. As a result of the orthopedic and plastic surgical injury to her right lower extremity, along with nerve damage and swelling, the plaintiff still uses a cane periodically in public places, and walks with a slight limp.
The case settled at trial before jury selection.
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