Posted on 12/07/2004 8:20:23 PM PST by woofie
Angel Martinez, 10, should be home decorating a Christmas tree and looking forward to a visit from Santa.
Instead, he is lying in a hospital bed awaiting another surgery for wounds suffered after he deflected two dogs from biting his 8-year-old sister Sunday in the South Valley.
Christina Martinez was treated and released Sunday for her injuries, but Angel, who has more than 30 dog bites from his neck down, will be in surgery again today.
Two dogs attacked the children while they were playing outside their grandmother's house, which is adjacent to Tom Tenorio Park, according to their grandmother, Christina Martinez.
Angel had his own guardian angel— construction worker Ruben Duran— who jumped a fence to get the dogs off the courageous boy.
While Angel is being hailed as a hero, he is unable to know that. He is heavily sedated so his wounds can be treated by doctors.
"He is still figuring out what happened," his mother, Cecilia Martinez, said Monday as she and Angel's father, Jose Hernandez, stood watch over their son at University of New Mexico Hospital. "He will be here until Christmas at least."
His mother said Angel has more than 30 bites, some so severe it will be weeks before doctors can operate on them.
"He goes in for surgery again tomorrow morning for some of the bites," Cecilia Martinez said Monday night. "We were told it is 100 percent certain he will get an infection."
Angel likely prevented the dogs from seriously hurting his sister, his grandmother said.
"He is a true hero," she said tearfully by phone Monday. "My granddaughter was bit first. He (Angel) pulled her coat off to get the dogs off her and then the dogs started to attack him."
Angel's grandmother said her grandchildren went out to play about 8 a.m. Sunday.
Duran told deputies he was checking on some materials at a nearby construction site when he saw the dogs mauling the boy at the park. He said he jumped a fence at the park, took off his boot and used it to beat the dogs off the boy, according to a Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department report.
He was then able to get the dogs into a fenced area at the park until deputies arrived.
"He could have gotten hurt, too," Sgt. Scott Baird said Sunday. "He absolutely saved the kid's life."
Deputies said that, once the dogs were off of Angel, the boy ran to his grandmother's house.
According to the report, "As a result of the attack, Angel's clothes were ripped from his body, and he was forced to run home with his multiple injuries, naked, over the recently snow-covered ground, (a distance of approximately 200-250 yards.)"
When deputies got to the park, they found two separate areas where there was "a significant amount of blood as well as fatty tissue scattered about."
Angel's grandmother, Christina Martinez, said Angel told her he does not understand why someone did not help him sooner.
She said several people were at the park when the attack happened but nobody helped until Duran intervened.
Both children were transported to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where Angel underwent surgery to treat and clean the wounds Sunday.
He was listed in stable condition Monday. Little Christina was treated at the hospital for bites to her lower backside.
The report says the dogs, which have been euthanized, were a Rottweiler mix and another mixed breed.
According to the report, the owner of the dogs, Ernando Saavedra, arrived at the park shortly after the incident. He told deputies he had fed the dogs earlier Saturday night but noticed they were missing later that evening. He said he had been out looking for the dogs Saturday evening and Sunday morning but did not find them.
Saavedra did not return messages left at his home Monday.
He voluntarily signed over the dogs to county Animal Control. Both dogs were destroyed Sunday evening and their heads were sent to the state laboratory for rabies testing, according to the sheriff's department.
But Christina Martinez said this was not the first time Saavedra's dogs have been in her yard.
She said that, about a week ago, one of Saavedra's dogs came into her yard and attacked her female dog, who has a litter of puppies. Family members were able to chase the dog away.
Journal staff writer T.J. Wilham contributed to this story.
May the Almighty bless that wonderful boy for his bravery and selflessness.
agreed
Rottweillers, it figures. The owner likely knew the dogs were dangerous and should have alerted animal control and the police IMMEDIATELY upon noticing they were gone. He just went out on his own to look for them and informed no one?? GUILTY!!
At least the dogs are gone, as they should be (should have been, long ago).
She said that, about a week ago, one of Saavedra's dogs came into her yard and attacked her female dog, who has a litter of puppies. Family members were able to chase the dog away.
Man, you're slippin'.
< |:)~
Amen.
I agree, but the grandmother should be charged for failing to supervise the children as well as the dog owner failing to supervise the dogs. I cannot imagine my two little grandchldren being mauled by dogs while I sit in my house watching Jerry Springer.
What, they can't bring themselves to use the word "killed?" Is this just PC run amok?
Holey moley... what a brave little boy.
Amazing how the bravery of a little boy can be so great, and the cowardice of another rottie owner can be so plain.
I've got no problem with rottie owners that understand what they own, and take measures to contain them. I *do* have a big problem with people that own dangerous dogs and *pretend* that they are just like any other dog.
It can happen so fast that it might not matter how closely they were supervised.
yes some dogs are truely animals.
i have a 7 year old akita shephard mix. she is a beauty and is the nieghborhood socialite for all the other dogs to come by our fence and play chase up and down it.
i love my dog, but no way will it ever be left alone with my new 4 mo. old grandson. why take a chance, both breeds can get testy at times. our dog was raised with lots of love and training, but she aint worth my grandson.:-)
IMHO a ten year old is fine to play unsupervised in the front yard. I dont thing The grandmother did anything wrong..
WTFIIWNM!?
(I'd still never live anywhere else.)
But at 10 and 8 years old --- if the kids were just playing outside near the house --- that's not really neglect.
Is there anyway we can send donations to help out this family. I'm sure the hospital bills are enormous.
Please let us known.
A fund should be set up to help this brave young boy, what a HERO!!!!
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