Collinsville 7-Year-Old Recovering From "Vicious" Dog Attack

A Collinsville mother is warning other parents after she said an aggressive dog attacked her son.

Kim Porter said she was at a sporting event with her two daughters when she received a text message telling her that her son has been attacked by a pit bull. She rushed to Saint Francis Hospital only to find out he'd almost lost his life.

"My only son could've been gone," Porter said.

Porter said she dropped her son off with a family friend Tuesday night before a baseball game. She said they'd been to the home before but she'd never let her son get too close to the pit bull she described as "vicious."

"You knew that it was dangerous from the way that it would hunker down and growl," she said.

Her son, Daniel, was outside playing when he got a little too close - just within the dog's reach on his chain. The dog attacked, leaving the 7-year-old with serious injuries to his head, face, and throat - part of his scalp was completely detached.

He was rushed to the hospital for a two-hour emergency surgery.

Porter said, "I couldn't see my son like that. I just couldn't see my son like that."

Daniel will be okay, but he wasn't the only one attacked.

When Tulsa County Sheriff's Deputy Mike Lahita responded to the scene the pit bull broke through its chain and attacked him.

"The dog latched onto his hands, broke one of his fingers and put several puncture wounds in his hand," said Casey Roebuck with the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.

He fired several shots at the dog, ultimately killing him.

Roebuck said, "Shooting a pet is not something that any deputy wants to do. This is an absolute last resort."

As for Porter, she has a word of advice to other parents.

"If the dog is aggressive, get your baby away from them because my son almost died from a pit bull attack," she said.

The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office said the dog was sent for rabies testing.

The family has set up a Go Fund Me page to help with Daniel's recovery.