Dogs Bite Blog: New Type of Surgery Used For Dog Attack Victim

New Type of Surgery Used For Dog Attack Victim

Victim Endures Complicated Healing Process

On January 9th 2008, surgeons put a stent normally used in the heart into her neck. This is the first time a stent has been used in this way. Just one day after the successful surgery, Paula headed home to her three young girls. Hopefully after this 10 month struggle, Paula will have a new chance at life that she can share with her family and friends.

06/29/07: 3 Months After the Attack
After the attack, doctors had to put Paula into a medically-induced coma for three days. She spent several more weeks in the hospital. She says she began to be able to whisper words a little more than a month ago. She says doctors finally took "the tube" out of her neck this past Wednesday.

She says even though her medical bills are now hundreds of thousands of dollars, she wants those who have stepped up to support her know how much she appreciates it. The financial hardship caused her to sell her home. She and her three daughters now live with other family members.

03/28/07: Woman Downgraded, Dogs To Be Euthanized
Minneapolis, IN - A Twin Cities mother was downgraded after surgery last night for wounds suffered in a vicious dog attack. A bulldog attacked Paula Ybarra in her Minneapolis neighborhood as she helped a friend work on his house. The attack nearly killed the single mother of three.

Ybarra and her kids were enjoying a warm spring night Monday at a friend's house helping him paint. The attack occurred suddenly when she stepped inside the house to help one of her children use the bathroom and grab her purse. She was getting her family ready to leave, said her bother Tom Provost.

That's when a 160-pound American bulldog named Bo Bo attacked Ybarra. The dog bit into her neck cutting a hole in her windpipe and damaging a major artery and her voice box. Merlin, a 65-pound pit bull, was also in the room. By the time rescue workers arrived Ybarra had stopped breathing. She was rushed to the Hennepin County Medical Center.

The owner of the dog, Tom Mohrbacker, said, "I've never experienced anything like this in my life." He said the 5-year-old dogs were like his kids, but he decided to euthanize both of them anyway. He added that Bo Bo had become more aggressive in the last year. In December 2006, Bo Bo bit the shoulder of a child. At that time animal investigators warned Mohrbacker the dog was trouble.

Donations can be sent to any U.S. Bank in the name of Paula Ybarra.

7 comments:

Original attack story here:

http://wcco.com/local/dog.attack.bulldog.2.366240.html
by

Anonymous 1/12/2008 4:17 AM | Flag as abusive

Good God -- this is a terrible story.
by Dee 1/12/2008 5:14 AM | Flag as abusive

Gotta wonder if the dog owner had any insurance coverage for sweet BoBo and Merlin?

http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/S126591.shtml?cat=10022

"Doctors had to put Paula into a medically-induced coma for three days. She spent several more weeks in the hospital. She says she began to be able to whisper words a little more than a month ago. She says doctors finally took "the tube" out of her neck this past Wednesday. She says even though her medical bills are now hundreds of thousands of dollars, she wants those who have stepped up to support her know how much she appreciates it. The financial hardship caused her to sell her home. She and her three daughters now live with other family members."
by Anonymous 1/12/2008 6:17 AM | Flag as abusive

Thank you for leaving this post.

Victims need a voice. Your voice matters incredibly.
by bitbypit 1/12/2008 6:24 AM | Flag as abusive

People selling their homes in order to deal with the financial hardship of a severe dog attack...
I can't even begin to express the rage I feel about this story.
I have been on the BSL fence, I just crossed over.
by Anonymous 1/12/2008 8:46 AM | Flag as abusive

I just went back and read the original story. If the owner of the dogs truly felt as horrible as he claims, he would give this woman his own house.
Mohrbacker, I don't know how you can live with yourself.
by Anonymous 1/12/2008 9:02 AM | Flag as abusive

Disgusting, negligent, defensive and reprehensible behavior by dangerous dog owners, particularly pit bull type dog owners is far from uncommon.

In this instance, one of the guy's dogs had already bitten a child. Animal control officials "warned Mohrbacker" that his dog was dangerous. It's a crime that dog was able to continue living after a human attack.

It's a far worse crime that the owner was not criminally prosecuted after the attack on Paula.
by Dee 1/12/2008 1:22 PM | Flag as abusive

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Saturday, January 12, 2008

New Type of Surgery Used For Dog Attack Victim

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