Family Attacked by Pit Bull Recounts Experience

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OMAHA (KPTM) - A simple red wagon - for most, it's a reminder of childhood. But for Wendy Blevins, it's a wagon that now holds memories she desperately wants to forget.

"I watched her... my daughter... get scalped basically," she said.

On Wednesday, Wendy and her 15-month-old daughter Charlotte went to a friend's house for a play date.

"She has a son the same age - we put the kids in the wagon, and we were just going for a walk," she said.

The four took off down 14th St., and when they came to the intersection of 14th and Pine, a pit bull got out of his leash and started attacking the children.

"He knew what he was doing. He knew what he was doing. He went after the kids."

Wendy, who was once a zookeeper at the Henry Doorly Zoo, says she pulled the pit bull off the kids as the dog's owner stood by.

"I got the back end of the dog - grabbed his neck and ears - and was swaying his head - and the owner was standing there maybe two feet with the leash," she said.

The dog bit Wendy's face and neck, and her knees were badly scraped, but she was more worried about little Charlotte, who was in critical condition after the dog tore off part of her scalp.

"I was getting in the ambulance and I was like, 'how are they going to fix this? It was so big... so big.'"

Charlotte went through one round of surgery that day, but she still faces a long road of recovery.

"She's a beautiful person - a ray of light - and she'll be great in the future, but the next five years will be hard on all of us," said Charlotte's dad, Aaron Blevins.

A difficult task as they try to forget what happened in the simple red wagon that changed their lives forever.

"My husband made fun of me, he said, 'you're like a little parrot. You keep talking!' And I said, 'I have to keep talking - otherwise I'll think about... (sobs) I see my daughter's head... (sobs) and I can't do that because she's going to be O.K.,'" Wendy said.

A memorial fund has been set up to help with the medical expenses for the Blevins. You can go to any First National or U.S. Bank to donate.