Dog Attack Compensation Renews Mother’s ‘Zest for Life’
This article highlights the use of cosmetic surgery. Cosmetic surgery may be needed after a serious dog attack, as scarring can be caused by such injuries. However, many people cannot afford to pay for cosmetic surgery, which leads them to becoming depressed and self-conscious about their appearance. This does not have to be the case. Dog attack compensation can be gained by individuals in order to pay for much needed cosmetic surgery. This article sows what a difference this can make to a person’s life.
Maggie Wright, a mother of two from Birmingham, was attacked by a small Dachshund whilst sitting on a park bench, watching her children play in a local playground. The attack occurred on a hot summer’s day and Mrs Wright was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of shorts. The dog attack happened without any provocation on Mrs Wright’s part and took place after the Dachshund became overexcited as its owner played fetch repeatedly with it.
Mrs Wright described how the toy bone (which was used to play fetch with) accidentally landed at her feet where she was sitting and she had ‘absolutely no time at all’ to remove herself from the situation in time to avoid the dog. The dog immediately latched onto the calf of her left leg. When Mrs Wright attempted to pull the dog off it bit her right upper arm three times, before obeying its owner and letting go. Mrs Wright was admitted to the local hospital and luckily the injuries were not life threatening. They did, however, leave significant scarring, which doctors advised would not heal completely on its own. At this point, a dog attack compensation claim did not occur to Mrs Wright.
Mrs Wright did not come from a poor family, her husband being a secondary school teacher and herself working part time as a teaching assistant. Their wages, however, were not enough to cover the reconstructive ‘cosmetic’ surgery that would have been needed to make the scars on her calf and upper arm less noticeable. Mrs Wright described how, even though it was August and very hot, she insisted on wearing long sleeved tops and long trousers to work in order to cover up the scarring. She refused to wear a swimming costume even when sunbathing in her own garden. Luckily, Mrs Wright’s husband strongly suggested seeking legal advice in order to see if a dog attack compensation claim could be made. The Wright family’s initial worry was that even seeking legal advice would be an expensive ordeal. They found, however, that this was not the case and retold the story of the dog attack in the park to legal professionals.
A successful dog attack compensation claim was made and Mrs Wright received reconstructive surgery. She later described how the dog attack compensation had ‘renewed her zest for life’; now that she no longer had to worry about other people seeing her scars.
Reconstructive surgery following a dog bite can be very expensive and victims often have to learn to live with serious scarring if they do not seek out good legal advice and dog attack compensation. Oliver Meaden, 21 from Newcastle, was bitten by a dog when playing football in a local field with his friends. The football was kicked off the pitch and Oliver ran to retrieve it. Whilst running after the ball, he remembers a large dog beginning to chase him. He recalls being ‘terrified’ and knowing that no matter how fast he could run, that the dog was clearly going to catch up with him. Oliver was right and the dog bit his lower leg before its owner caught up and put the dog back on its lead. The bite looked very serious and the owner of the dog, very apologetically, took Oliver in their car to hospital. Oliver was told that he would sustain an eight centimetre scar running up from his ankle towards his knee. The hospital cleaned, treated and stitched the wound, though Oliver was told that reconstructive ‘plastic’ surgery was not provided by the NHS. Although many of Oliver’s friends thought the scar looked ‘cool’, Oliver was very self-conscious about it. However, he knew that he would be unlikely to be able to afford any cosmetic surgery. This is when Oliver sought legal advice. He actually ended up winning compensation for cosmetic scar treatment – something which affected his life in an extremely positive manner.
Dog attack compensation should always be sought, especially by individuals who have physical, permanent scarring as a result of a dog attack. It helped both Maggie Wright and Oliver Meaden overcome their personal difficulties resulting from being bitten by a dog. Had they not decided to seek legal advice, their lives would still now continue to be affected by the dog attack incidents.
