‘Mummy, am I dying?’: What Doncaster boy, 6, asked after dog attack

Vick Zidko was savaged by the family’s American Staffordshire Terrier at their home in Highfields – but is now recovering after his horrific ordeal which saw him seriously injured and surgeons having to re-attach part of his scalp.

His family have spoken about the mauling by the family’s dog Diesel – which they bought for £200 several weeks ago via Facebook and which has now been destroyed by police.

In an interview with the Daily Mirror, the family told how Vick was dragged down the stairs by the dog as it sank its jaws into his head.

His sister said a memory that is haunting her is her little brother “pleading with the dog to stop”. The boy’s family only managed to save his life by prising open the animal’s clamped jaws.

As his mother tried to calm him down after the savage attack, Vick asked her: “Mummy, am I dying?”

Police described Vick’s injuries as ‘potentially life changing’ with the youngster requiring 50 stitches to his head and face. He also suffered bites to his back and neck and spent five days in hospital but is now back home.

His dad Vitalijus told The Mirror: “It’s a nightmare and we never want any other family to go through this.”

The 41-year-old said: “When we saw him he was really soft and jumping around. He captured our hearts.

“But after we got him home it became apparent he was completely untrained.”

Describing the moment the horror unfolded, Vick’s sister Gabriel, 18, said: “Vick came down the stairs quietly and Diesel started barking. He pounced on Vick, dragging him down two of the stairs. It was as if he saw Vick as a chew toy.

“He was ragging him about and scratching him.

“I started screaming and my stepdad [Vitalijus] and mum ran in. What sticks in my brain was my little brother pleading ‘stop, Diesel, stop’. I was trying to get the dog off. My mum was screaming ‘Oh my God, stop, stop, stop’.

“My stepdad jumped in front of me and tried choking the dog out, and that’s when my mum scooped Vick up. My stepdad told me to call an ambulance and he put [the dog] in the bathroom.”

Gabriel, who was also covered in blood, said: “All I heard was my mum’s screams because she had seen the injuries.”

Mum Eugenija, 41, wept as she recalled the attack. She said: “I grabbed Vick and ran to the bedroom, locking the door.

“I was trying to calm him down. I put a towel on his head to stop the bleeding. He saw all the blood and said, ‘Mummy, am I dying?’.”

Eugenija, added: “The doctors could not believe how Vick kept smiling. He’s my superman.

“He said, ‘Promise me we’ll have no more dogs in our house’.”

The attack and another in Sheffield prompted South Yorkshire Police to warn people not to buy dogs from social media adverts without indepth research first.