A 6-year-old boy is recovering after a traumatizing pit bull attack Saturday evening in the village of Savannah.
According to the Ashland County Sheriff's Office (ACSO), the boy was handcuffed by his hands and feet when the dog attacked, biting him in the neck and ear.
Officials say the 911 call came in at 5:06 p.m. In the call, obtained by 3News, a woman can be heard saying the boy "just got bit in the side of the neck by a dog." That caller goes on to say they are putting pressure on the boy's neck to stop the bleeding.
When first responders found the boy, they facilitated transportation to a hospital by helicopter. On Monday, deputies arrested three people in connection to the attack: the boy's biological mother, her boyfriend, and the owner of the pit bull.
Kydhatha Castellano, the child's paternal aunt who identifies herself as the boy's legal guardian, says the 6-year-old lives with her in New York but was on a two-week visit to see his mother in Ohio. She tells 3News she was absolutely shocked when she got the call that the he was injured, and she and her husband rushed to Ohio where he was being treated.
"It was horrible, because I couldn't take his pain away," Castellano said. "But he had the biggest smile."
As the days have passed and after he was released from the hospital, Castellano says the boy has opened up more about the circumstances surrounding the attack. She claims they were sitting together on the couch when he told her about being handcuffed.
"He was just sitting there and he says, 'I can't believe this happened,'" Castellano recounted. "And I tell him, 'I'm so sorry that this happened to you.' And he tells me, 'It was because I was crying, and he didn't like that I was crying.'"
Though the boy was attacked while in the handcuffs and seriously injured, Castellano says he isn't scared of dogs right now.
"He just said that the dog made a bad choice, and that he just needs to go and learn," she recounted.
The child briefly joined the video call with 3News. When asked what he wanted other kids to know, he said he wanted them "to be brave at hospitals."
Meanwhile, all three suspects appeared in court Wednesday. The boy's mother Angelina Williams and her boyfriend Taylor Desiree Marvin-Brown face felony charges of endangering children and obstructing justice, while the dog's owner Robert Michalski is charged with endangering children and tampering with evidence.