Hi there

It's one of those times in one's life when you are put into a situation where you are trapped. Powerless due to the way the world works.... you question yourself you think survival, you take no prisoners....but then you really need help and you must man up.

lose the ego, lose the embarrassed feelings-its, not your fault. Stuff just happens. Its not bad to ask for help is it.?

I decided to fundraise for my wife Rachael who was almost killed a few weeks ago.

On that day it was a game of dice, decisions were made that were a matter of life and death. Unknowingly and without realising the motions at play ended up saving her life and our neighbour's boy.

I never imagined I would be here needing your help

When you suddenly become one parent and have to do everything.

Rachael, My wife is the type of girl who will stop to help an animal in distress - go out of her way, she's an animal lover - a beautiful soul.

DAY OF THE ATTACK

On the morning of the 16th of March, while driving to drop the kids at school, Rachael noticed a dog not seen before in our street. After dropping the kids off and returning to our street she sought to help find the lost dog's home. A little boy known to our family was at the same time walking to school but had stopped and was standing with the dog. My wife asked the boy if he knew the dog and he pointed to the house at the end of the street. He began to walk the dog in the direction of the house. My wife realised the time and decided to drop our neighbour 9 yo boy at school explaining to him that on her return she will look for the owner and will get the dog home.

Again my wife enters our street, she pulls up outside a house with a big open gate and a vehicle parked in the driveway. My wife knocked on the door.....as she turned around there was suddenly out of the blue another dog. The dog barked once and launched into a savage, frenzied assault, biting her in several places and snarling and snapping with such anger. The dog was relentless, fixed on my wife it was in full attack mode and kept biting, tearing and latching onto parts of her body. My wife was screaming hysterically.

The dog was transfixed like it had marked its prey. It again latched onto her elbow while trying to pull her down. Rachael managed to stumble to the car with the dog still locked onto her arm, pulling and puncturing her skin with each motion.

Saved from death by our car that unlocks itself when you have the key in your pocket bought her milliseconds to scramble into the car! The dog continued its violent and bloodthirsty attack, Rachael used her survival instinct and slammed the door on the dog! It worked. The dog released its hold.

At this point, she was shaken at how bad her injuries were and more so her right elbow. Blood was spurting everywhere and she raced home in the car not knowing if the dog had followed. Once inside, she called the ambulance, and a friend to be with her The friend rushed over to help, trying to compress the wounds. She was an angel and stopped a lot of blood, the flesh was falling off and shock had set in.

THE MAGNITUDE AND VELOCITY OF THE ATTACK

I had no idea how ferocious the attack was until a witness drove his car to my house

(I had just got back from rushing off from work just in time to see the ambulance leave. The witness told me he was sorry, he froze and was so scared he was frightened.

He stated' if her car was not there, she would be dead. After I received some photos of her injuries I realised how bad it was. The bite on her arm looked like a shark bite and there were lots of puncture wounds and lacerations on her back and breast, Rachael described the dog as being in a vicious rage and repeatedly trying to disable my wife to get her on the ground.

THE CAUSE

The owners had left 2 gates open. The front main and the side gate to the back of their house, was a careless act, a lapse in concentration, I fail to understand how they could do that, They knew the dog was aggressive. It was a dangerous animal, when you generally walked past the house it would go into a fit of rage.

The council's rapid response turned up and secured the house. The dangerous dog division confiscated the dog and through their questioning and investigation days later said they had not seen such an attack before. The dog Rachael was initially trying to return was also the same owner's dog who had got out. The friendly one.

THE AFTERMATH

Rachael remained at the hospital and went into the operating theatre to be operated on by a plastic surgeon and would stay overnight for monitoring.

Rachael's injuries were quite significant that she spent 2 weeks in bed and very quickly PTSD presented itself. I had not seen trauma up front like this manifest itself so quickly. She will suddenly break down, have recurring memories, vivid flashbacks of the attack, or nightmares and distressing dreams. She had to be sedated. A dog barking would easily startle her. Dogs carry many diseases in their mouths and frequent GP trips every 2 days for cleaning and check ups. We are still unraveling the aftermath and will continue for at least 12 months.

THE 2 YEAR WAIT

The sad and frustrating thing about all this was Rachael was due to have a heart operation on Monday 20th, (the attack was Thursday 16th) we had been waiting for 2 years. She has been unwell, unable to work and has chronic fatigue-like symptoms due to her heart function where this operation was going to fix her so she could return to work to help support our family. The mortgage has gone up so much we were anxiously waiting for this operation for so long on one income. Now we are delayed significantly and it's troubling.

THE REALITY

We are into our 3rd week with all the stitches out and the healing of the wounds continues. The main concerns are her right arm has a loss of feeling in places and she is not able to straighten it fully. We are unsure if these problems will rectify themselves or not but since she is a medical typist, and after 20 years in that industry, she may have to suddenly change careers. It’s time we don’t have.

Currently, I can only work in a limited capacity and with no pay when having to tend to the kids, school runs, hospital visits, food shopping - everything that runs a household. Rachael cannot drive again for some time due to the damage and function of her arm.

When she has her flashbacks I try to tell her to think that the little boy would have died if it was he who returned the other dog to that house. It's our only silver lining that brings some comfort as to why......... my only comfort.

THE FUTURE

Rachael and I wish she could urgently start trauma counselling and begin treatment of her arm with a specialist once her wound is healed. Her arm is not the same. Considering the wound, possible nerve damage, ongoing pain and loss of function are very worrying and I'm worried sick about how I will manage the house, let alone work.

I felt sorry for the owners of the dog. That one mistake is like leaving a loaded gun out. It has caused our family such hardship financially and emotionally and now we face the possibility of losing our house. How can someone's careless behavior cause such misery and the time it takes for the victim to seek compensation turn into years?

I understand tragic things happen to people and I understand Australians and people around the world are all doing it tough, that part I try to grasp. We have a long road to recovery. She saved a life that day no doubt, even another child that may have walked late to school. Then there are our 4 children - twin girls and 2 boys anxiously worried about their mother and confused. Their older siblings are all out of home, at uni and doing the early part of life but check in regularly.

Rachael's heightened state of being on “high alert,” guarded, and tense won't let the kids walk to school anymore or walk down the street as she keeps revisiting in her mind the attack which has led to a kind of anxiety now.

Thank you for the time you have taken to read this. I appreciate your time,

I have been humbled many times in my life but this time I am exhausted and numb,

when I suddenly have to do everything its a breaker.

I would like to thank you for joining with us Rachael's efforts in her healing during this time—It's hopefully helped from people like you that will help Rach recover

give her strength and not stress. May God Bless you and return twice your offering back to you.

We as a family are eternally grateful and never forget.

'You wake up every morning to fight the same demons that left you so tired, and that my love, is bravery.'

Thank you - yours sincerely

Bruce