Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 4, 1991 TAG: 9102040049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But as India rollicked around the house with her brother on a recent afternoon, her mother found it hard to believe that this was the same girl who was hospitalized for a week after being attacked by a Rottweiler last October.
"I was really amazed at how fast she bounced back," Pamela Hairston said. "Everybody has been saying how brave she was."
That's not to say the little girl has recovered completely from the morning of Oct. 3, when she was mauled by a neighbor's Rottweiler as she waited for a school bus outside her Northwest Roanoke home.
India still has trouble sleeping some nights, her mother said, and the sound of a barking dog can terrorize her.
"I feel like this is something she will never forget," Hairston said.
The Hairstons recently were visiting relatives out of town when a large dog began barking outside the house, sending India into a panic.
"She just went off," Hairston said. "She was petrified."
But at home on the 1000 block of Greenhurst Avenue, the fenced yard of the Hairstons' neighbor that once held two Rottweilers is now empty.
Max, the Rottweiler that attacked India, was put to death at a judge's order. The dog's owner, Dwayne D. Stanley, was fined $130 for owning a vicious dog, not having city tags for the animal and allowing it to run loose.
Hairston said she doesn't hold any hard feelings toward her neighbor.
"He did show his remorse to me," she said. "I was upset, but I don't hate the man."
As for the Rottweiler, "I'm glad they put the dog to sleep, but it wasn't his fault, either," she said. "A dog's going to be a dog."
India doesn't talk much about the attack, her mother said. When asked if she is afraid of dogs now, she nodded solemnly. But the smile returned quickly to her face as she resuming rolling around the living room floor with her brother.
Although it's too soon to tell for sure, doctors hope that the scars will all but disappear.
"The hope is that the scars have already been revised" with plastic surgery, said Tony Anderson, a Roanoke lawyer who represented the Hairstons.
India will still receive outpatient treatment for the scars. But as she grows older, Anderson said, it is hoped the scars will fade.
Anderson recently represented the Hairstons in an out-of-court settlement in which Stanley's homeowner's insurance company agreed to pay $325,000 to India by the time she is 25.
Some of the money is to be used to pay medical bills, and the rest is to be placed in a trust fund until India is old enough to receive it. By then, the events of Oct. 3 will be a distant memory.
India and her two brothers were waiting outside their home for the school bus when she was attacked.
Witnesses have said that the dog, which apparently had escaped from a pen in Stanley's yard, rushed up to India and her two brothers with no provocation.
The brothers, 11 and 6 years old, climbed up a tree as the dog attacked their sister.
A motorist stopped and tried to stop the attack. Stanley, 27, then came out of his house and dragged the dog away.
India spent about a week in Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where it soon became apparent that she was not injured as seriously as first feared. She continued her recovery at home, where a tutor worked with her until she was able to return to school after the Thanksgiving holiday.
As India's childhood returns to normal, her mother has not forgotten the outpouring of sympathy and help she received in the days following the attack.
"Every five minutes, the telephone was ringing at the hospital," Hairston said. "Everybody told me they were praying for her."
Hairston estimated that friends and strangers contributed more than $1,000 toward India's medical costs, and countless others called or sent cards.
"The Roanoke Valley was there for me," she said.
by CNB