An 11-year-old boy from Atkinson, Georgia, is recovering after being attacked by three dogs on Sunday, an incident that left him with 17 open wounds and required more than three hours of surgery.
Banner O’Berry was riding a four-wheeler with his best friend and teammate when the vehicle broke down. As the two boys got off to fix it, they saw three dogs running at them, according to a Facebook post from his mother, Jessica O’Berry.
The boys climbed onto the four-wheeler to get away, but one of the dogs grabbed O’Berry by the ankle and pulled him off. The other two dogs then joined the attack. O’Berry fought back with a pair of pliers he had on hand.
“He managed to grab one of the dogs and hold it down while trying to fight the others with those pliers,” Jessica O’Berry wrote, adding that his friend stayed by him “doing absolutely everything in his power to get those dogs away.”
O’Berry suffered 17 open wounds to his legs and underwent three and a half hours of surgery at Coffee Regional Medical Center. His mother said that while in the ambulance, her son called her, in pain, and asked her to let his football coach know he wouldn’t be able to finish the season.
The Atkinson County Sheriff’s Office took the three dogs into custody for a 10-day hold, according to Chief Danial Knapik. One of the dogs has been identified as a pit bull; the other two are believed to be hound and terrier mixes.
The sheriff’s office has begun a court process to have the dogs declared “vicious animals,” and notification paperwork has been served to the dogs’ owners, Knapik said.
Despite his injuries, O’Berry attended his team’s Sept. 16 football game, watching from the sidelines in a wheelchair with bandages visible on his legs. “This warmed my heart!” his mother wrote, sharing photos from the game.
