Toddler Requires Reconstructive Surgery After Dog Bite

April Smithell had just entered the shower at the home of her mother-in-law when she heard screaming.

Smithell said she ran into the living room and found Ronnie, her 23-month-old son, covered in blood from the personal injuries he suffered after being attacked by Hooch, her mother-in-law’s 9-year-old pit bull.

She became hysterical as she picked up her son, who had sustained bites to his face, but called 911 as she held him in her arms.

Smithell’s son sustained serious personal injuries from the attack and required reconstructive surgery at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston, Massachusetts. She said that both of his eyes had swollen shut and the area from his upper lip to his eyebrows had swollen.

According to Smithell, her son suffered bite marks to five different parts of his face, including his nose and under his right eye, each requiring stitches. She said he also required a part of his face to be reconstructed through plastic surgery.

The attack occurred shortly after 1 p.m. on July 30 at the home of the boy’s maternal grandparents, Cathy and Ronald Smithell Sr., in Atkinson, New Hampshire.

Firefighters treated the boy at the scene before rushing him to Parkland Medical Center in Derry, New Hampshire for evaluation. He then received transport via ambulance to Massachusetts Eye and Ear where he stayed for two nights before being released.