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That was Mrs. Bryans' first realization that her son's injuries were life- threatening. He had lost most of his right hip. There were over 100 punc- ture wounds from hip to knee in his right leg. The bone was nicked and VIP tually all of the muscle was gone. as well as the fat. There were two bites on his penis and one on his angs. . "EEC-£31; toldher that the ln'utigs to We penis and The attack occurred at 10:15 in the morning. By 7 that evening, Jan. 15, 1992, Christopher was undergoing surgery in the bum unit of Sick Kids. At 9 p.m., doctors told his anxious mother that he was "not out of the woods," that he could still "die at any point in time." It wasn't until after they had dealt with the child that medical personal saw that Mrs. Bryans' foot had turned black with frostbite and she was in shock. She had not noticed, herself. Indeed, Christopher's injuries were massive and he will carry the scars for the rest dhis Ire. "I thought they meant he'd be well enough to come home in two days," she said. "Now I know they thought he'd be com- ing home in a body bag or a coffin." Doctors there decided almost immediately that Christopher's injuries were too serious to be treated on the spot, and they arranged an air ambulance to take him to Toronto's Sick Children's Hospital. They advised Mrs. Bryans that she should go along and be prepared to stay for about two days. . . Once she got all the chili dren safely into the house. she dialled the operator and contacted police and an ambulance to get the child to Lindsay's Ross Memorial Hospital, "He didnt walk. I didn't clue in right away to why he wasn't walking." she remembers, . - _ "t___. '""'w"'"r __ 'ttCT 'c"parRa Idllllly oruasuelo deal with physical and emotional aitereffects of dog attack The_childrerf, from left. are twins Counnev and Chrkmnhnr ..... wuvulvll, Iruill Ieu. are lens U4 ter, Tiffany, Photo by Eileen Argyris Coping with near-tragedy - AM. u.“ -L, _ ' _ anus came close to being to dra of a permanent nature, allowed but that they hopes of raisedp (hem healing normally, All In the the jagged, torn llcsh had she sp) to be lmglanlr‘d with tubes _ side at emotional after-effects of dog attack. In back are parents Ed a?1dh7l§rll are twins Courtney and Christopher (who was attacked) and older sis- Innn Arnurir W The Bryans family of Castleton, owners of KB Trailer Park M. .9». .u,,., . . . _ V to drain infection and allowed to heal as jagged. ran-seq purple scars. 942$ n infection and sleeping on the floor lo heal asjagged, beside his bed, Mrs. urple scars. Bryans watched the early three weeks that phases of his recovery, ml by her son's including the daily chang- Sick Kids. often ing of dressings which was i, daily “In summer he aa, clothes, even swimsuits, that come down to his knees, because of the scarring. k "He can't play competi- tive sports. or do any manual labour when he is older." said Mrs. Bryans. He tires too quickly because of the muscle loss. However. he is doing "100 per cent better than the doctors first thought. But. it took weeks of physiotherapy to teach the boy to walk again, using muscles other than the ones that are now missing. While his parents know that Christopher's gait has been affected by the injuries he suffered, it is not apparent to a stranger meeting him for the first time. Most of the cuts on his face, suffered at the time of the dog attack. came from sharp edges in the snow and they healed quickly, leaving no traces. But, for all she had seen, and because she had not heard from her brother again, she had believed in her own mind. that he was dead -- eaten by the terri- fying dogs that had appeared so suddenly from behind a neighbor's house. Then, the mother learned that Courtney had believed all this while that the "dogs had eaten" her twin brother. She had Wit' nessed the horror in the front yard, seen Christopher dragged. torn and bleeding, into the house and then into an ambulance. But, she had been in the care of other family members and friends as well as her dad, while her mother alone had gone with Christopher to hospital in Toronto. Because there were no phones in the rooms at Sick Children's, it was 10 days before Christopher was able to talk to his traumatized sisters at home. His mom wheeled him to a phone in the hall in a bright yellow, "banana cart." "an hour and a half of pure hell." Knowing this family's history, it is hoped the people of Cramahe will not allow history to repeat itself with these children, or any others. da- "All three of the children are frightened of dogs, especially large dogs run- ning loose. People don't realize the damage that loose dogs can do. I don't expect special treatment. just common sense treat, ment." At KB Trailer park, the dogs are all on leashes, and there are many in the park. But, It is easy, knowing their story, to understand why the Bryans children have spe- cial fears, nightmares. about big dogs running at large. It is against the law In Cramahe Township for any dog to be at large off the owner's property, just as it was In the municipal- ity where Christopher was attacked. ,, eeeeeH. “my. She is still upset that peo- ple continued for some time after the incident to phone her home and call her "dog hater," for insist- mg that the dogs that attacked her child be put down. "l like dogs. My sister has a Rottweiler. But I can't deal with it anymore. because of the flashbacks. Ht was the second-worst case they'd ever seen" of Injuries Inflicted by dogs. Mrs. Bryans comments. "They believe the thick padding In his brand-new snowsuit saved his life." After a court battle, the dogs that inflicted the injuries on Christopher were finally destroyed. Because the owner refused to have them destroyed immediately, they could not be tested for rabies and Christopher had to be monitored closely, in case he had contracted the fatal disease from the ani- mals. Mrs. Bryans says the dogs wh6 attacked her son did not live in the same small subdivision of 30 or 40 homes, but came from about half a mile away. csc., i_ -IrTt _ 4