Toddler nearly blinded when dog attacked after she gave it a stroke

Toddler Isla Williams after she was bitten
Isla Williams had been trying to stroke the dog (Picture: Wessex News)

A two-year-old girl was nearly blinded during a family day out after a dog lunged for her face, narrowly missing her eye.

Toddler Isla Williams had bent forward to stroke the Japanese Akita during the Winterton Agricultural Show, in Lincolnshire, when it attacked. Her mother Megan Lester then rushed her to hospital, where she underwent five hours of emergency treatment and bandaging. Megan described the attack as ‘extremely terrifying’ and said her daughter was ‘instantly bleeding’.
She explained: ‘I figured the dog would be friendly with it being at a show full of kids and surrounded by a lot of people, so I said Isla could stroke it. She was only a few yards away from me.
WESSEX NEWS AGENCY Jim Hardy email news@britishnews.co.uk mobile 07501 221880 A two-year-old girl on a family day out was millimetres from being blinded for life when a she stroked a dog and it tried to bite her face off. Onlookers shouted in horror as blood streamed from deep wounds on little Isla Williams' cheek and nose. And she almost lost the sight in her right eye - the dog's savage attack left a bite mark an inch away. Isla's family took this heart-breaking pic of her in hospital
The dog lunged for her face (Picture: Wessex News)
‘Isla is very good with dogs – we have a large Labrador, so she knows what to do and what not do.’ The family rushed Isla to the emergency tent at the show before taking her to Scunthorpe General Hospital.thumbnail for post ID 10285299Murderer, 17, filmed lying in wait for victim before stabbing him to death at college

She was immediately referred to a doctor and after assessing her wounds, they decided against stitches as they didn’t want them to become infected.

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Megan said: ‘I can’t believe how lucky she was to get off with just bandaging on her head. She is a tough cookie and already thinks it’s better.

‘She’s amazing, she just takes it on the chin and carries on, but I was mortified. When the Akita opened its mouth, it was as big as Isla’s head.
WESSEX NEWS AGENCY Jim Hardy email news@britishnews.co.uk mobile 07501 221880 A two-year-old girl on a family day out was millimetres from being blinded for life when a she stroked a dog and it tried to bite her face off. Onlookers shouted in horror as blood streamed from deep wounds on little Isla Williams' cheek and nose. And she almost lost the sight in her right eye - the dog's savage attack left a bite mark an inch away. Isla's family took this pic of her in hospital
Doctors opted not to give her stitches for the injuries (Picture: Wessex News)

‘If it properly latched on to her, I don’t even want to think about what could have happened.’

The family was so shocked and desperate to get medical attention for Isla, they did not speak to the dog’s owners.

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Megan says they received ‘no apology’ over what happened, with one person in the owner’s party stating that Isla ‘appeared out of nowhere’.

Isla’s father Danny Williams added: ‘Isla is doing good, she’s handled it really well.

‘She is definitely lucky to only get away with minor injuries and I think it would be good to use this to raise awareness on how dangerous some dogs can be, especially to children.

A stunning pedigree red/white Japanese Akita Inu (not Akita) enjoying a day at the beach. If you can spare a minute to tell me how my photo will be used I will be very grateful.
The family claim they received no apology from the dog owners (Stock picture: Getty Images)

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‘If you have aggressive dogs, it might not be the best idea to take them to a place where hundreds of children will be.’

Nigel Ogg, chairman of show organisers the Winterton Agricultural Society, said ‘The whole of the show committee were deeply saddened to hear about the incident on Saturday involving Isla.

‘We have never had any problems in the past with any dogs at our shows. We always have paramedics on the showground, and in fact were only metres away from the incident and we treated Isla immediately.

‘A full investigation into this will be looked into by ourselves so that nothing like this ever happens again. We wish Isla a speedy recovery.’