A two-year-old girl has been left scarred for life after a deranged devil dog tore a four inch chunk of skin off her face in a horrific playground attack.
The vicious 10 stone beast leapt over a fence before savaging terrified Destiny Harry-Khan as she sat on a play park roundabout.
Destiny had a u-shaped gash torn off her chin after the hound clamped its powerful jaws around the toddler’s head as it tried to chew her face off.
Family friends spent five minutes desperately hitting the frenzied dog using sticks and bags until the dog finally released Destiny and sprinted away.
The horrific attack took place in the playground at Chinnbrook Road Park, Birmingham, just after 1pm on Saturday.
Bloodied Destiny was rushed to Birmingham’s Children Hospital where she underwent a two-hour operation while surgeons sewed her face back together.
She had 30 stitches in her face and chin but doctors warned she will be scarred for life and suffer permanent nerve damage.
Horrified mum Lauren Henry, 21, had left Destiny with her friend Hannah Warrilow, 21, while she went shopping in Birmingham on Saturday afternoon.
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Lauren, from Northfield, Birmingham, said: “She was playing on the roundabout and the dog just pounced on her face, ripping it from the mouth to the cheek.
“He face was torn apart, the dog was trying to eat her bit by bit.
“I got the phone call from my friend Hannah and she was in hysterics, I could hear my daughter screaming in the background – she told me Destiny has just been savaged by a dog.
“I thought that she was going to have her nose and ear hanging off, I thought my beautiful baby girl is going to be scarred forever.
“When I got to the hospital there was blood everywhere. Just an inch lower and it would have been her throat and she would be dead.
“Her beautiful little face had a four inch chunk of flesh missing.
“My friend said the dog was huge, about 10 stone. Who on earth would want to keep such a monster as a pet. It should be found and put down before it kills someone.
“I saw the sad tragedy of the baby Harry who died in Telford on Wednesday and thought that could so easily have been Destiny.
“I have only ever left her with Hannah three times and they have always had a great time but there was nothing anyone could do.
“I blame the dog owner not anybody else. If you have a beast like that you should never let it out on its own.
“At first Hannah was heartbroken, but the nurses were so good. I can’t fault them. She is back to her normal self now and playing with her dolls.
“Destiny has been left petrified of dogs, although she’s OK with her own, Dollar. I don’t blame the dog for what happened. I blame the owner.
“Destiny is a battler – she’ll be fine – but the next child this dog attacks may not be so lucky.”
Family friend Hannah Warrilow watched as the powerful mongrel pinned Destiny down in the park’s playground before savaging the toddler’s face.
The 21-year-old nursery nurse said: “I was sitting in the park while Destiny played in the playground and she called out for her juice. So as I turned round to get her a drink from my bag I heard this thing growling.
“I then turned around to see this huge dog on top of her pinning her to the ground chewing at her face. It completely came out of the blue, it all happened in seconds.
“I started screaming and my boyfriend Rickey came running over and gave the dog a couple of kicks and it let go of Destiny and ran off.
“She was just lying there crying so I just scooped her up and put her in the car and drove her to hospital.
“Her little face was just pouring with blood -it was all over my clothes and my car. It was terrifying.
“She cried all the way to hospital until she saw the nurses. Every time she touched it and it hurt and she could see the blood she was in hysterics.
“But she calmed down eventually. She was a very brave girl.”
Police are now trying to trace the owner of the dog – which is described as a large, brown cross-breed – after it ran off following the attack.
A West Midlands Police spokeswoman, said: “This was a nasty attack on a defenceless little girl.
“We are very keen to trace the owner as soon as possible and would urge anyone with information to contact us immediately.”
