Thursday, March 28, 2024
1Mum found boys in a 'pool of blood' after vicious dog attack

Mum found boys in a 'pool of blood' after vicious dog attack

Sean, 12, and Wayne, 13, were attacked without warning

By Christine Lavelle

TWO school boys were mauled by their new pet dog while they slept on their couch in front of the television.

Brothers Wayne, 13, and Sean Darling, 12, suffered around 70 wounds between them after new edition to the family – Clyde the dog – savaged them without warning in the living room of their home in Bonnyrigg, Edinburgh.

The boys’ mum Etta Paterson, 50, told how her sons are lucky to be alive after the ordeal, which left them “lying in a pool of blood.”

She said Wayne and Sean, both pupils at Lasswade High School, had fallen asleep on the couch after watching TV on Sunday night, with Clyde – an Old English Bull Terrier crossed with a bull mastiff – sleeping next to Wayne’s feet.

Third-year pupil Wayne woke at around 1.30am to find the two-and-a-half year-old dog attacking his leg, and he immediately screamed for help.

Sean had been sleeping on the couch opposite and was wakened by the screams.

He jumped to his older brother’s aid by kicking the dog in the face – but Clyde soon turned on him.

‘Sounded like the dog was killing them’

Ms Paterson, a mum-of-six, said: “I was sleeping upstairs and was wakened by the most terrifying scream.

“It sounded like the dog was killing them.

“I didn’t know what I was opening the door to.

“Wayne was lying in a pool of blood and the whole sofa was covered in Sean’s blood.

“There was blood on the walls.”

Wayne added: “I lifted the covers and my leg had been ripped to shreds.”

And, whenever Ms Paterson tried to edge closer to her sons, Clyde would get nearer to Wayne’s face.

Ms Paterson, who had managed to grab a hammer and knife from the kitchen to try and protect her family, said: “I’m 50 years old and I have never felt fear like that in my life.

“I thought it was going to kill them.

“I couldn’t get near them – the dog went absolutely crazy every time I moved closer.”

Clyde – who was given to the family by a friend – had only been with them for one week and Ms Paterson insisted he had showed no previous signs of violence.

‘Worst decision’

He has been destroyed after finally being subdued by police dog handlers in the family’s home.

Ms Paterson said: “Getting him was the worst decision I have ever made in my life.

“Clyde had been out playing with my grandkids in the back garden that very day.

“My grandson, Kerr, who will be two in October, was meant to be staying over that night but I wasn’t feeling great so I took him home.

“Thank God he didn’t stay because I know it could have been so much worse.”

Barricaded

Ms Paterson managed to get her boys to the kitchen, where they barricaded themselves in by pushing a table against the door to prevent the 3ft-tall dog from opening it.

When police and dog handlers arrived one hour after the ordeal began, Clyde was trapped in the hallway.

He received a number of electric shocks before passing out and was given a lethal injection from a vet.

Wayne and Sean were taken to Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary, where they received several stitches, and Wayne was given crutches to help him walk after sustaining a bite on the sole of his foot.

Both are expected to be scarred for life after the attack, and Sean suffered around 30 separate wounds on his right arm, while big brother Wayne had 40 on his right leg.

Police are investigating the incident.

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