Boy, 11, ‘thought he would die’ in bull terrier attack

A child dog attack victim "thought he was going to die" after he was savagely mauled by a dog at the start of his summer holidays. Cooper Johnstone, 11, went to call for a friend on Wednesday [July 24] when his family say he was attacked by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier in Ormskirk, Lancashire. Caption: Injuries suffered by Cooper Johnstone, 11, from Ormskirk, Lancashire, after he was attacked by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier on July 24, 2019
Cooper, 11, thought he wouldn’t survive being mauled by the dog attack (Picture: Liverpool Echo)
A boy has described the moment his arm was ripped by a dog so badly that he could almost see his own bone. Cooper Johnstone, 11, says he thought he was going to die when he was mauled by the Staffordshire Bull Terrier attacked him last Wednesday.

He also suffered puncture wounds to his chest as well as injuries to his hands.

His father Ellis Johnstone described how his son was preparing a ‘little afternoon’ in a paddling pool with his friend when he went to call for him at about 1pm. Around 10 minutes later Mr Johnstone, 46 and from Ormskirk, west Lancashire, got a call from his daughter saying Cooper had just been bitten by a dog.
Hand wounds
The boy was mauled by a Bull Terrirer on his way to invite a friend over to play (Picture: Liverpool Echo)
Boy with arm wound
The dog ripped off the boy’s flesh all the way down to the bone (Picture: Liverpool Echo)

He said: ‘I ran straight around and went in [to my daughter’s house]. One of the neighbours had got a towel and put it around his arm.

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‘He was sitting there just screaming with pools of blood everywhere. He was just screaming.’

He added his son was left traumatised by the attack and thought ‘he was going to die.’

The boy was taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where he stayed until Sunday. He will need to go back on Tuesday so doctors can assess the best way to treat his arm wound.

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Ellis said: ‘I want to raise awareness of what can happen, whether it’s a family pet or a kid with a dog. It’s about raising awareness of what dogs can do. He could have been dead.’