Dog attack: woman screams for help

Rachel Hepworth, 21, sustained horrific injuries when she tried to protect her small dog Benji from a frenzied attack by two American bulldogs in Tobruk Crescent.

The dogs’ owner surrendered the animals to council rangers after the attack, with the dogs ordered by council to be euthenased.

The young apprentice chef said the extent of her injuries meant she would need up to six months of rehabilitation to restore the use of muscles in her arm.

“They ripped right through to the bone,” she said.

Ms Hepworth and her boyfriend Michael Hinchcliffe were walking their two dogs late on Wednesday afternoon and were just a few metres from their home in Churchill Avenue when the two bulldogs broke down a fence and ran for the couple.

“I turned around and saw them coming,” Mr Hinchcliffe said.

“I called out to Rachel to run.”

However, the dogs outran Ms Hepworth in the middle of the road and, as she cradled her small dog to protect him, one of the dogs latched on to her arm.

“I can remember screaming for someone to help me,” she said.

While her boyfriend kicked at the attacking dog to get it to release its hold, neighbours ran from nearby houses.

“I can’t really remember a lot about it, except I turned around when Michael called out but the dogs were already just about on me,” Ms Hepworth said.

Mr Hinchcliffe’s mother Karen was in a house nearby and heard Ms Hepworth’s terrified screams during the attack.

“I said to my husband Graham, ‘My god, that’s the kids, there’s something wrong’,” she said.

Mrs Hinchcliffe said nothing could prepare her for the extent of the young woman’s injuries.

“I just wrapped Rachel up in towels and drove straight to the hospital,” she said.

Ms Hepworth’s mother Barbara Hepworth said her daughter now faced the disappointment of falling behind in her apprenticeship this year.

“The doctors have told us it will be six months before the muscles are restored,” she said.

“This means my daughter will lose a year off her apprenticeship and she’s only got a couple of weeks’ sick leave - she will have no income.”

Mrs Hepworth thanked staff and surgeons at Orange hospital for the treatment they provided for her daughter.

She said the family would not rule out seeking legal advice about compensation.

“The problem for Rachel is she won’t be able to have the full use of her arm for some time,” she said.