Baby Girl Suffers Stroke After Dog Attack
Baby girl Kinley Golden was visiting her grandmother’s home in Louisiana last week when tragedy struck.
Kinley, 1, and the rest of the Golden family had taken a vacation. They left their home in Houston and traveled to Louisiana where they could visit with the baby girl’s grandparents.
The girl’s grandparents had a baby of their own for her to play with.
That baby was a springer spaniel dog that was known to be well-trained, calm, and gentle.
“I’d never seen a better dog,” said Kinley’s father, Jeremy Golden.
According to ABC, despite the perceived gentle nature of the dog, the grandfather stayed with the baby girl as she played with him in the backyard. That may have been the only reason the family was able to save her when things went wrong.
From inside the house, the family heard the girl’s grandfather scream. When Jeremy Golden ran outside, he saw the dog latched onto the baby’s head. He and the girl’s grandfather attempted to pry the springer spaniel off of Kinsley, but was unable to. So Jeremy did the only thing he could think of to help his baby girl.
He bit the dog.
Despite what might seem like an unconventional solution, it worked. The dog released Kinsley and the family was able to rush her to a nearby town.
The girl’s head was pouring blood, a sight that could have easily thrown another father into panic; however, Jeremy Golden is employed in Houston as an ICU nurse. His wife is also a nurse in the same hospital.
Jeremy kept pressure on his baby girl’s wounds throughout the drive. When they reached the town, ambulances and EMTs were waiting and the baby girl was airlifted to a hospital in Shreveport.
Although Jeremy and his wife are both medical personnel, they were shaken up by the ordeal.
“Nothing prepares you for when it’s your own child,” the girl’s father said.
Getting to the hospital wasn’t the worst part, though. Kinsley was not in very stable condition and during the first three days of her hospitalization, she suffered a stroke.
Jeremy Golden insists that his baby girl has never been sick “a day in her life,” making it obvious that the stress of the attack caused the incident.
It wasn’t long after the stroke that the girl was stabilized and they were able to transport her to Texas Children’s Hospital. Many of the nurses from the hospital Mr. and Mrs. Kinsley work at have been donating money and time to the baby girl’s family. A family member of the baby girl even started a GoFundMe page. It was created in order to try and get the girl’s family the money necessary to pay for her medical bills.
“Her face wasn’t injured, but she had to have part of her skull removed for brain swelling,” Mr. Golden said.
The GoFundMe page has raised over $14,000 in the past five days and has set a goal of $100,000.
Poor Kinsley is not the only girl to be attacked by a springer spaniel recently.
In the U.K., an eight-year-old girl, Annie Ramsay, was viciously attacked by her teacher’s springer spaniel.
The dog tore off part of the girl’s lip. She had to have surgery to repair the damage, and will require more over time.
The magistrate ruled that the dog responsible for the girl’s wounds did not have to be euthanized.
“I don’t think they realize the damage that will do to Annie, seeing the dog outside her home.” The girl’s mother said. “…if it had been a Staffordshire Bull Terrier or a similar breed, it wouldn’t be around today.”
