Collinsville Girl Out Of Hospital, Recovering From Dog Attack

A little girl attacked by her neighbor's dog two weeks ago, is out of the hospital and back at home, on the mend.

Payton White was riding her bike near her great grandmother's house, when her neighbor's dog attacked her, leaving gaping wounds on her arms, back and neck.

She may be home, but she still has a long way to go to recover.

Payton's not at school because she is still covered in hundreds of stitches and is very sore. It took a six-hour surgery to patch her back together again after the attack.

10/23/2014 Related Story: 5-Year-Old Collinsville Girl Has 'Hundreds Of Stitches' After Dog Attack

Payton's older sister Cameron was there when it happened and remembers the whole thing in vivid detail; she's the one who called their mom, Sherri, right afterward.

"That was the most horrific thing I've ever been through,” Sherri said. “That's a mother's worst nightmare, it really is."

Payton pulled through, and after eight days in the hospital, got to come home; but her wounds are tender, she's still at risk for infection, she can't move her head side to side or raise her arms above her head.

She will need physical therapy, and she needs another CAT scan before she can go back to school.

The dog did test negative for rabies, but it's going to be a long time before Payton can be around dogs again.

"The hospital therapy dogs came up there one night and asked Payton if she wanted to see them and she started crying and cried herself to sleep after that," Sherri said.

Sherri is angry the attack ever happened because she said the dog had caused trouble before, even though the owner denies that, but because there's no reports filed there's nothing that can be done.

They plan to focus on Payton's recovery and the community's response.

"I'm very thankful for everybody's prayers and support. I would never have thought in a million years anything like this would've happened, but there's a lot of good people out there. It's shocking," Sherri said.

The neighbor who owned the dog did try to protect Payton during the attack and shot the dog right afterward.

Payton's medical bills are skyrocketing and her mom had to take a leave from work to stay home and care for her.

A fundraising page has been set up to help the family.