Hero Neighbour Saves Boy Being Savaged by Vicious Dog by Hitting It with Hoover

Faline · #1 ● 01-03-2013, 09:06 AM

Neighbour Stewart McGuinness stopped a vicious dog savaging a boy by bashing it with a Hoover pole.

Stewart, 45, jumped into action when an English bull terrier pounced on Louis Currie, 12, as the lad rode on his scooter.

Grabbing the first thing he saw, he ran outside with a vacuum cleaner tube to see the dog biting the boy’s leg, arms and face.

The terrier would not release its grip so Stewart was forced to hit it repeatedly, leaving deep dents in the pole.

Louis suffered horrific injuries and now faces life-long scars and plastic surgery.

Stewart said: “My automatic reaction was to grab the first thing that came to hand, which happened to be the vacuum extension.

“I tried to force the dog off the lad but he had him by the leg. It was vicious.

"It wasn’t the nicest thing having to whack the dog with the pole but I had no choice, it would have killed him otherwise.

“It was a horrible dog, all muscle. It was just so powerful that when I was hitting it with the pole, there was no reaction.

“It bit so far into the lad’s leg that it was near impossible to get it off. The boy and the dog were covered in blood. It was horrific.

“My only concern was saving the boy. I didn’t think about myself, it was just automatic.”

The dog sprung from a garden as Louis rode his scooter to a friend’s house in Droylsden, Greater Manchester, on Sunday.

The lad was left bleeding heavily and is now recovering in hospital.

Mum Sarah said: “In my eyes, Stewart saved my son’s life. In most places the dog’s teeth didn’t go through major arteries or tendons but there is muscle damage.”

Police are investigating the attack and the dog, called Ty, has been taken to secure kennels before being destroyed.

Its owner, a 35-year-old woman, has been summonsed for failing to control a dog.