A 4-year-old boy is in the hospital after he was mauled by a pit bull at his grandparent’s house in Oklahoma on Friday.
via People:
According to a police report obtained by PEOPLE from the Tecumseh Police Department, law enforcement officials were dispatched to a residence in regards to a dog bite involving a child who required a tourniquet, and officers were informed that the injury was reported as a complete amputation.
A GoFundMe page identified the boy as Axel Foster. When Officer Aaron McCormick and other emergency personnel arrived on the scene, he found Frances Forbes in the driveway with Foster, who was missing his right arm below the shoulder.
Officer McCormick said that when he went to locate the boy’s arm, he could see two pit bulls and puppies in a dog pen, and noted in the police report that “one of the puppies was trying to chew on it.”
The male pit bull was shot in the chest, killing it, before Officer McCormick was able to retrieve the boy’s arm and pack it in a cooler on ice. Foster was transported to OU Trauma in Oklahoma, where he underwent two surgeries to reattach his arm.
According to an update on the GoFundMe page set up by the boy’s mom, Destiny McDow, “Axel’s arm rejected Sunday and was amputated. He is now awake and talking, but still on a lot of pain medications.”
PEOPLE has reached out to Tecumseh Police Chief J.R. Kidney for additional statements, but has not heard back at the time of publication.
“We raced to the hospital. When we got there, the nurses confirmed his arm was dismembered from his body,” McDow told NBC affiliate KFOR. “I don’t know what he’s going through. I never went through it. But he’s only a child. What if he doesn’t make it through?”
Speaking with CBS affiliate WNCT, Chief Kidney told the outlet, “I’ve seen dog bites in the past and experienced some pretty brutal dog bites with children but never a complete amputation.”
“To be over just an innocent type thing of wanting to pat some puppies, it’s just devastating,” Kidney continued. “What kind of Christmas is this child gonna have now? What kind of life, in general, is this child gonna have now?”
Chief Kidney also told KFOR that Foster’s grandparents could face child neglect charges if the boy was left unsupervised.
In a statement to Newsweek on Tuesday, Kidney said, “At this time it appears to be an accident. We are waiting for DHS to finish its investigation. The boy was staying with his grandparents and went to try to pet the puppies.”
How incredibly traumatic.
