Main fundraiser photo

Please help Kyle, who was attacked by 2 pitbulls

Donation protected
My name is Debra Kugler, and my Son’s name, is Kyle Cracolici.
Note: 2/4/2021.  The original fundraiser was started shortly after the pitbull attack, on 7/17/2020.
He was in the hospital for 9 weeks.
Unfortunately, Kyle's back in the hospital, because sepsis set in, and now has double pneumonia, heart issues, suffered a seizure, and now, the team of doctors discovered a spot on the brain. 
 At the moment, we don't know what that signifies. He's on IV antibiotics, but, this infection seems to be spreading everywhere. No covid. They're testing for TB, and other things, and he remains in isolation. He's scared and so am I.
It's possible one of the many wounds he suffered, got infected, and the infection spread. 
The original story of the pitbull attack (2) of them is below.

Never in my life, would I have ever thought I would be doing a GoFundMe Page, for my Son, Kyle, but, it’s the only way to reach out far and wide, for any donations, possible. 
I'm a desperate Mom, on a mission, but I can't do it, without your help, and I am not going to stop.


On 7/17/2020, Kyle’s life, as well as his girlfriend, Kristen’s, was forever changed, because of a pitbull attack, and it wasn’t just one dog, it was two.

The night of the attack, Kyle was expecting his girlfriend over, for just a quiet night, watching movies.  The owner of the 2 pitbulls was not home at the time. Kristen has been around the dogs numerous times and there was never a problem, and since my Son, was living there, he had no problems with the dogs, as well, but that night changed everything.

Kyle opened the door to let her in, the dogs, barged through the door, and went after Kristen. Kyle, raced after her, to get the dogs away, and to protect Kristen, but the dogs then latched on to him, and wouldn’t let go.

Kristen tried to help him, but he told her to go and get help. As they were tearing him, and shredding him apart, they dragged him from the front yard, to the backyard, and all she remembers is Kyle saying.  “They’re killing me, they’re killing me”.  There was nothing she could do to help him.  She had blood all over her, which was mostly Kyle’s blood and she couldn’t even dial 911 on her phone, so the neighbors did.

She had to sit there, and here Kyle’s screams for help.  She was totally helpless. I can’t even imagine what that was like for her.

Finally, officers were on the scene, as well as many emergency vehicles.  She remembers seeing many officers with their flashlights and guns drawn, because they didn’t know what they were going to encounter.  Then she heard a gunshot, because one of the officers had to shoot the one dog that was still attached to Kyle, and the other dog was captured by animal control, from what I heard.

The one officer that shot the dog, saved Kyle’s life, and I thank him from the bottom of my heart. There were many hero’s to thank, the Pasco Countys Sheriff's Dept, emergency personal, on the scene that night, and the trauma team, at the hospital, who worked so hard, to save his life. That night those dogs were weapons, and weapons, my Son couldn’t even fight off, or defend himself.  They were in attack mode.

I was told by an extremely, kind and compassionate, Deputy, that Kyle’s wounds were horrific, and he was fighting to stay alive.  They didn’t think he was going to make it. He was transferred by the ambulance, to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, and when they brought him in, the ER team, couldn’t even believe he was still breathing.  He was rushed in to surgery and at that point in time, his condition was listed at critical with life threatening injuries.  He lost so much blood, so he was given blood transfusions.  I have no idea how many.

The trauma team did everything they could do, to save his life, and Kyle told me he had over 100+ staples, he wasn’t quite sure, as well as rods and pins, in him.   Both legs were severely damaged, and the skin was off. His right arm from the wrist to the elbow is completely stripped of tissue, where you can see the bone and tendons. There are way too many wounds to count. They were afraid he was going to lose that arm because it was so bad.  Both hands were also in bad shape and were bandaged, so he only has 2 fingers on the left hand that he can actually try and move. He had a collapsed lung and was on a ventilator.  The pain he has endured, is unimaginable.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, he would be taken to the OR for surgical cleaning of all wounds. When he would wake up in recovery, he would be screaming in pain, and of course, he was given pain meds. One night, the nurse called to tell me he was out of surgery, and I could hear him moaning in pain, almost, like a howling type of sound.  It broke my heart, and all I could do was cry.

One day, about a week ago, the Doctor who was on duty, told Kyle he wasn’t going to the OR anymore and would be doing bedside wound cleaning.  The first time my Son refused it, they did take him to surgery, but the second time, the Doctor said he had no choice, and my Son, could not go through that kind of pain.  They would give him some pain medication, but nothing that would completely stop him from feeling all that pain, as they were cleaning, and scraping tissue, so let’s just let him suffer a little, more Doctor…

How would this Dr. Like being torn apart by 2 pitbulls?  He was, and still is, an extremely unsympathetic Doctor, and so is his nurse Jillian, who spoke in a matter of fact, kind of way, to me on the phone, and then she had the nerve to say that my Son didn’t qualify for inpatient PT, because he had no broken bones.  I could not believe she actually said that to me. And guess what?  That’s where he ended up, but, unfortunately, not for long, as you read on. 

There were some really, compassionate Nurses and Doctors there, but not everyone was so kind.

Kyle’s Case Worker had been reaching out to many Physical Therapy Facilities, to see if anyone would take him in, when the time was right, but because he has no insurance, and apparently, doesn’t even qualify for Medicaid, they all turned him down.  Finally, a place, who did have a charity bed, said they would take him, but it would be for just a couple of weeks, and my Son needs more long term rehab, because right now, he can’t even walk.

The nurses at the rehab center, which is called Encompass Health Rehabilitation, couldn’t believe that Bayonet Hospital, stopped all his meds and sent nothing with him, so they had to figure out what to give him that would help. I find that extremely negligent, on the Doctor, who discharged him.

Kyle was admitted to Encompass on August 11, 2020 and the very next day, had to be transferred to another hospital, because there was some blood clot concerns.  CT’s were taken and showed one in his upper Right shoulder.  From what I know, they began treating that.  Then on August 14,2020, he was once again transferred back to the original hospital at Bayonet, because had awoke in the early morning hours with excruciating pain in his hand, and it was so bad, he wanted them to take the hand off. 

Now, Bayonet decided to do an ultra sound to see if there were any more blood clots, and in reality, they shouldn’t have cleared him, until these tests were done.  One again, negligence on their part.

He now suffers from night terrors (PTSD) and wakes up screaming the dogs on him and to get them off. A Psychiatrist evaluated him and said he didn’t have PTSD. What an incompetent Doctor, he is, as well. How can anyone not have PTSD after that?

I was told by an administrator at Bayonet, that money wasn’t an issue, after he had been there for a few weeks, but I didn’t believe her, because money is always an issue, and so is insurance. 

Kyle’s quality of life will never be the same, because of this dog massacre/slaughter.  He still can’t even walk, right now.  He has only 2 fingers he can use on the left hand, and it’s so hard to even hold the phone to talk to anyone, because it keeps falling.

Interesting note:  Apparently, I was told by a Detective, that there had been 2 previous incidents, which involved these dogs.  Two other people had been hurt, as well.  I do not know about the other one. The owner of the dogs was told to remove them, but he never did.  If he had, this whole thing never would have happened. His life goes on, and my Son’s will never be the same.

The Physical Therapy Facility can only keep my Son for 2-3 weeks, and we need one who can take care of him for a longer amount of time, so he gets the quality of care he needs, so much.  I can’t believe there is no facility out there who can help my son, just because he doesn’t have insurance. Where is the compassion these days and acts of kindness?  To me, there is none. The only place that has showed compassion, is Encompass, but, as I mentioned, they cannot keep him very long, and he really likes all the people there, because they are kind and compassionate.

As a Mom, I am heartbroken, because I can’t even help him, and I can’t even see him, because of Covid. I haven't seen the pictures of his injuries, and I really don't want to, so I just cannot post them, on here.

My 89 year old Dad, who I live with, and I, cannot give Kyle the proper medical care that he needs. I work full time. It’s just impossible. That is why he needs a longer term Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Facility to help him.  We desperately need that, as soon as possible.

I have reached out to several agencies, to see if they can help, but have heard nothing back.  We are also seeing if he qualifies for SSI benefits.  I have done so much work to help my Son that it has consumed me, but I won’t stop, until someone can help.

Kyle has a long healing journey ahead of him, both physically and mentally.

Kyle desperately needs your help, for his recovery to be successful, and that is the reason for this page. I want to raise as much money, as I possibly, can.

The funds will cover, Physical Therapy, which would be daily, Wound cleaning, at least 3x a week, medical equipment, medications, Doctor visits, and visits to a Psychiatrist who can help him through the trauma of that horrible night, and any additional hospital visits, if required, any further surgeries, and now, since we do not have a case, his medical bills, at this point in time, are beyond, what you can imagine.

Eventually, he will need plastic surgery, skin grafting, when all wounds are healed, but that is way down the road.  We are not even close to that.

I am practically begging for anyone who can help us, and most of all, if there is any  Inpatient Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Facility that would be kind enough, and find it in their heart, to help Kyle, please let us know.

I am praying for some kind of miracle to happen to help my Son, but I can’t do it alone. Also, today, I got some devastating news from the Attorney, and that is, the owner of the property does not have enough assets to cover, hardly any medical bills.  This is not right, because my Son, now, has to suffer from his injuries, for the rest of his life, and probably never will be able to work again and now has to worry about all the medical bills. So, thanks a lot to the owner of the pitbulls, because your life goes on, and you suffer nothing, at all.  Kyle and Kristen, didn’t deserve this.

On behalf of Kyle, and myself, we would like to thank each and every one of you who are able to donate, any amount, to help him with his recovery. 

I have included a link, from an interview, Kristen, Kyle's girlfriend did, with Bay news 9, the day after the attack. If Kyle hadn’t run to her rescue, she never would have survived.  She is healing from her wounds, and getting help for the trauma, she also suffered, that night.  Neither one of them, will ever be able to forget that night, and it will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

To view the video,  please copy the link below, and put in your address bar.

Title:  Pasco County Woman Recalls Horror of Pitbulls Attacking Her, Boyfriend


https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2020/07/18/pasco-county-woman-recalls-horror-of-pitbull-attacking-her--boyfriend#:~:text=Pasco%20County%20Woman%20Recalls%20Horror%20of%20Pitbulls%20Attacking%20Her%2C%20Boyfriend&text=PASCO%20COUNTY%2C%20Fla.,incident%20before%20the%20evening%20began.
Donate

Donations 

  • Rachid Safa
    • $10 
    • 8 mos
  • Catherine Devlin
    • $50 
    • 8 mos
  • Anonymous
    • $75 
    • 8 mos
  • Melinda Pesci
    • $50 
    • 8 mos
  • Matt Straub
    • $100 
    • 8 mos
Donate

Organizer

Debra Kugler
Organizer
Clearwater, FL

Your easy, powerful, and trusted home for help

  • Easy

    Donate quickly and easily.

  • Powerful

    Send help right to the people and causes you care about.

  • Trusted

    Your donation is protected by the  GoFundMe Giving Guarantee.