A mum who endured a horrific dog attack was left needing a skin graft after part of her cheek was completely ripped off.
Kelly Allen, who hails from Swansea, was attacked without warning by a friend’s pet sausage dog and has since said her 'life has been ruined' and her self-esteem 'absolutely destroyed' by the scar the dog left behind.
The 45-year-old was enjoying a few drinks at a friend’s house last month when their 'very friendly' dachshund suddenly changed its demeanour and latched onto her face.
The traumatic ordeal started on 15 March when Kelly went round to her mate's house, who she does not wish to named, for some drinks.
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The friend's pet dachshund was showing no signs of aggression when Kelly arrived at around 9:30pm.
Kelly explained to PA Real Life: "He was very friendly and didn’t show any signs of being an aggressive dog. He was laying on his back for belly rubs, and put his head in my lap a couple of times."
However, later that same evening, Kelly was sitting on the kitchen floor, leaning against one of the kitchen counters, when the dog’s demeanour suddenly changed.
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When she looked away for a split second, the dog pounced, sinking its teeth into her cheek.
Recalling the traumatic experience, she carried on: "He didn’t bark or growl, or make any noise, he just lunged and attached to my face. He then started ragging, shaking his head back and forward.
"I could feel his teeth deep inside my cheek – I still get flashbacks now."
She remembers repeatedly shouting 'get him off' as blood began to poor down her face.
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Another friend rushed into the kitchen and grabbed the dog’s collar, but its jaws were locked and would not let go.
"The only reason he got off was because he ripped that piece of flesh off and ate it," she continued. "He didn’t release, he pulled it off and I felt the skin tear."
As Kelly stumbled to her feet, the dog bit her again, this time on her arm but luckily, she was able to break free and run out of the room.
The mum-of-two revealed: "I’ve never had so much blood. I looked in her mirror which was straight in front of me and thought 'sh*t, I’m in trouble'."
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They immediately called 999 but were told there was a considerable wait.
Fearing she would 'bleed to death', Kelly called a friend who had not been drinking with them and asked for a lift to accident and emergency at Morriston Hospital.
Medical staff then 'numbed the area' and 'scrubbed the wound with what looked like a Brillo pad' because of all the bacteria that’s in dogs' mouths.
She recounted: "They were leaning me over a sink and scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub… it was agony.
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"They then poured water over me for five minutes, which felt like I was being waterboarded. It was horrific."
With her wound bandaged, Kelly was told she could return home and wait for the plastic surgery team to contact her.
At 7:50am, she received a phone call from the hospital telling her to 'come back immediately' as she needed to have surgery.
"I met with the plastics team who explained what they were going to do," she went on. "They were going to take a piece of skin from my neck and graft it on my face."
Kelly was on the operating table for five and half hours before waking with a bandage stitched to her face and a seven-inch scar across her collarbone.
In total, she required more than 40 stitches – 36 on her chest and six on her arm.
It was later found that this was not the first time the sausage dog had attacked someone.
Kelly said she did not want to involve the police but they were called after staff at the hospital saw the severity of her wounds.
The dog was later removed and put down after being taken to a training facility in Cardiff, according to Kelly.
Kelly is now seeking compensation after learning that the dog had allegedly already attacked two people, but this could take several years.
The ordeal still haunts the mum, who regularly wakes during the night crying and cannot face returning to work at a contact centre for the travel company Tui due to the trauma and her physical appearance.
The ordeal has also taken a heavy toll on her mental health and knocked her confidence.
She said her self-esteem has been 'absolutely destroyed' and that she doesn't go out any more due to the scar.
She now struggles to leave the house without being accompanied by one of her two sons – Fletcher, 19, and Cooper, 18.
"If it wasn’t for my close friends and family, I don’t know where I would be now," Kelly explained. "I can’t go to the shops any more, unless my son comes with me. I just don’t live my life."
She has not been able to face going back to work since the attack, adding: "I can’t go back to work, because I can’t face people, I just can’t do it."
The incident has also put a lot of strain on Kelly’s finances as the £350 statutory sick pay she is receiving each month is not enough to cover her bills and living costs.
"My employers have been amazing and really supportive," she noted. "I’m now making a legal claim, but that could take up to two years and in the meantime I’ve got no income."
Kelly added: "I’m not entitled to anything else because I’m still employed and I can’t give up my job to get income support, because then I lose my job.
"So I’m just in a really hard place at the moment."
She continued: "I’m left with a hideous scar on my face. It’s just ruined my life, because it will never be the same now.
"I now have to buy camouflage make-up for people who have facial disfigurements – that’s something I never thought I would have to do.
"I’m a single mum and I can’t afford my electric and gas most weeks – it just seems so unfair."
To help her stay afloat, Kelly is depending on her family, and her sister Stacey, 43, has launched a fundraiser which has received more than £1,000 in donations.
You can donate to Kelly's GoFundMe here.
Rhiannon Ingle