Cadets scale 12ft razor-wire fence to help pregnant woman seriously injured in attacked by own dog
A pregnant woman who was attacked by her own dog outside an Army base leaving her with serious arm injuries was rescued when cadets scaled a razor-wire fence to help her.
The dog owner, believed to be in her 20s, was left with serious arm injuries after the attack outside Whittington Barracks near Lichfield.
Witnesses said cadets from the barracks – who were training outside – sprang into action and scaled the 12ft perimeter fence to come to the pregnant woman's aid after hearing her terrified screams for help.
With the help of army medics they tended to her wounds before an air ambulance rushed the badly-injured victim to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
The dog, said to be a mastiff or Staffordshire bull terrier cross, was captured by police shortly after the attack on Nottingham Road.
The woman, who has not been named but lives near to the barracks, remains in hospital where she is being treated for injuries to her arm.
Some residents have claimed that complaints have previously been made about the dog.
A witness to the attack said: "It was horrible, the dog just went for the pregnant woman right in front of the barracks and across from a pre-school.
"I'm told police had the children stay inside the school afterwards just in case.
"I think the dog was a Staffie and I heard her neighbours have complained about it a few times.
"When the woman screamed the soldiers were the first on the scene. A couple of them even climbed the wall to help, which has some nasty looking razor wire on top of it.
"They must have saved her life. The soldiers managed to scare the dog away."
A manager at Whittington Pre-School and Day Nursery, near to where the attack happened, said: "We got a phone call telling us to keep the children inside until they had caught the dog. All we know is that a woman was injured."
A spokeswoman for Staffordshire Police said: "At approximately 4.10pm on October 16, police and ambulance staff attended an address in Nottingham Road, Lichfield, in relation to a report of a female having suffered a serious arm injury as a result of a dog bite.
"The dog, which is owned by the injured female, was captured in the vicinity with the assistance of military staff from the nearby barracks.
"The casualty was taken by air ambulance to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham."
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "Medics and cadets used their training and experience to aid a civilian outside the barracks and have been personally praised for their brave actions."
