DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - Three-year-old August Scherer was looking forward to a summer filled with waterparks and playgrounds. Instead, she is recovering at home with bandages covering her head after surviving a brutal dog attack.
“I will never forget those screams and the sound of it,” said Michael Scherer, August's father.
According to the family, a neighborhood dog bit August on the head and dragged her through the yard.
“I thank God that the owner was able to get him and pull him off when that happened, because due to the force of the bite, she was just within seconds of being killed,” Scherer said.
August was rushed to a Springfield hospital for emergency surgery. Michael said the injuries were severe and will take months to recover from.
“The entire middle of her forehead was bitten in such a way that all of her skin is gone, all the tissue is gone, and the layers of muscle are gone," Scherer said. "Everything was ripped out. She has bite marks all over the back of her head,” a family member said.
August experiences excruciating pain multiple times a day, especially when her parents have to replace the bandages on her forehead. Michael said trying to get her to sleep is often the hardest part of the day, since it hurts to close her eyes.
August's two sisters were outside when the attack occurred. Her oldest sister was the one who carried her to the front door as blood dripped down her forehead. Michael said all of the girls, himself, and his wife are dealing with the emotional trauma of an event like this.
Along with the emotional toll, the family says the financial burden continues to grow as August will likely require additional surgeries and procedures in the future. August's surgeon, who specializes in childhood dog bites, says this is the worst case he has ever seen.
“Multiple people have told us, based on the surgeries, everything that she's had to have done so far, procedures that she'll be done in the future, it's going to be a minimum of $500,000,” Michael said.
Michael started a GoFundMe to help cover medical expenses, travel costs to Springfield and medical supplies. He said community support has already made a difference for the family. On the first day of the fundraiser, community members pledged thousands of dollars.
“It's been amazing to see the response already from our community and seeing people that we can see that genuinely love and care for us, and we're grateful for what has happened so far,” Michael said.
As the Scherer family looks ahead, they say they are leaning on faith and each other to get through the difficult road to recovery.
“We understand how close this was to being something very different," Michael said. "So a lot of my tears are for the gratitude and gratefulness that she's still alive."
The family says they have raised about 10% of the expected total costs for August’s medical care so far. Their GoFundMe campaign, which includes further details about August's medical care, is available here.
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