Support Sammy's Recovery Journey

Hello,

My name is Lynda White and I am creating this GoFundMe for my great grandson Samuel Gregory on behalf of my daughter and son in law Mike and Tammy Gregory.

On May 17, 2025, Sam was bitten by a pit bull in the face. As a result of the dog bite, he endured massive injuries which included a lower broken jaw, a fractured upper jaw, the loss of 8 teeth (5 on the bottom and 3 on top) along with multiple facial and chin lacerations. Upon EMS arriving, they determined he needed to be flown to Tampa General Hospital from Englewood. Upon his arrival, he underwent a 4 1/2 hour surgery, with 3 amazing plastic surgeons working on him to address the broken jaws where they were then wired shut. Additionally, a plate and pins were attached to his lower jaw and will be there for at least another 8 months. All of his facial, chin and lacerations that were inside of his mouth were also sutured during the surgery (they stopped counting the stiches). They also had to implement a feeding tube through his nose into his belly due to the severity of the swelling. After days of this, the swelling did go down enough for him to try eating through the straw which were protein drinks. After 3 days of observation and the success of this, they then pulled the feeding tube. After a couple more days of observation without the feeding tube, he was released to come home and heal in the comfort of his home.

Sam spent a total of a week in the hospital.

My daughter and her husband (Tee Tee & Paw Paw) have been Sammy's main caregivers since the tragic death of his mother at the end of December of 2022. Sammy does have insurance but the insurance only covers so much. Sammy's plastic surgeon and dental teams are located in Tampa and my daughter travels there frequently to see them. Sam has been able to maintain the same doctor/patient relations with the very same doctors, both medical and dental who saw and treated him when he arrived to Tampa General ER. This is so very important to my daughter and son in law, maintaining those established relationships and she will continue traveling there in order to do so.

My daughter and her husband are wonderful people who work very hard to give Sammy the most loving, safe and secure home he has. Unfortunately, the medical bills are starting to flow in and it has been very overwhelming for them. My daughter has an amazing employer who has allowed her to come in anywhere from 2-4am and work until my son in law arrives with Sam at 8:30 and then she leaves with Sam. She spends the day taking care of him and his needs but by doing so, her income has drastically declined.

Sammy will need future plastic and laser surgeries for the facial repair but the dental part of this has not even yet begun. He has followed up with the dentist who treated him in the ER but with his jaw being wired, no procedures were able to begin.

Sam recently underwent an outpatient surgery to have the wires removed and now that they are off, his dental journey will begin. This will obviously bring additional dental bills for any needed procedures.

Sammy is a wonderful and loving little boy who has the heart of gold. Anyone who meets him just falls immediately in love with him!!

He has endured so much trauma these past 2 1/2 years with the death of his mother and now this awful life altering event, yet he continues to smile (and he has such a sweet smile to boot!)

He is an extremely smart, very sweet, loving and gentle old soul with an amazing positive attitude!! He gives so much strength to those around him because of this. I am in absolute awe of his strength and couldn't be prouder to be his Nana but to have a little person such as himself radiate so much positivity is so very inspiring!

I would like to thank you in advance as your generosity will help ease any financial burden my daughter and son in law are now facing in order for our Sammy to continue receiving the amazing medical and dental care he has received thus far.

With Warmest Regards,

Sammy's Nana ~

Lynda White