Ontario Baby Bit By Dog May Have Permanent Nerve Damage & Mom Begs Owner To Come Forward
"I don't ever want another parent to feel what I feel because of that dog."
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Kamyra Longpré, who is 14-months-old, was attacked by a dog on January 18 and is suffering from possible nerve damage and serious injuries after a quick walk in Schumacher, Ontario.
Her mother, Katie Goudreau, is begging the owner of the unidentified dog to come forward so her family can feel safe in their neighbourhood again.
Goudreau told Narcity her cousin Samantha Respoule came to pick up Kamyra from her house for a playdate, but not even 10 minutes later, she says she received "a phone call from hell."
The attack
"I couldn't make out a word she was saying, the only words I could make out were Kamyra, blood, ambulance."
According to a Timmins Police press release, a large white short-haired dog with a brown spot "suddenly" attacked a woman and a baby at 9:56 a.m. by the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Templeton Street.
Goudreau managed to get her cousin to tell her where they were and ran out of her house wearing a tank top and running shoes to find her daughter.
"I was two houses away, and I could hear my baby screaming and crying."
When she arrived at Respoule's brother's house, she saw her daughter with a towel wrapped around her head.
She grabbed her baby and her cousin called 911.
Respoule suffered "minor injuries" from fighting the dog off, according to police.
When paramedics arrived, Goudreau fought to stay with her baby in the ambulance.
"When they put her in the back of the ambulance, they put her on me, and her pulse and everything started dropping. So they laid the sirens on, all the way to the hospital," says Goudreau.
Kamyra's injuries
Kamyra needed surgery to reconstruct her ear and "to see the damage inside of her head because the dog pierced through her skull."
The baby is now back at home and recovering well, but according to Goudreau, her doctors say she is "not even close to out of the woodwork."
"She is probably going to have permanent nerve damage in her right eyebrow, and we still don't know the damage done to her brain."
Her mother's wishes
Goudreau says she is scared to leave her house with her child, not knowing where the dog could be and that her daughter is suffering from nightmares.
"I don't care if you put your dog down. I don't care if you want to fight for your dog. I don't care. Just come forward, so I know where the dog is and that my child is safe and every other child."
Anyone with information can call Timmins Police at 705-264-1201.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.