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An eight-year-old California boy was severely beaten on Tuesday by a vicious labrador at an unlicensed nursery, leaving the youngster with horrific injuries to his face and body.
The distraught mother, Michelle Aranda, described the horrific injuries her son Connor sustained “to his face, chest, back and arm.”
“There are stitches on the inside of his mouth, on the top, on the upper lip,” she told Newstar’s KTLA News. “His chest had a two-inch cut that was about two inches deep.”
After the near-fatal attack, the child was rushed to the trauma center at Loma Linda University Hospital by a medevac helicopter — about 52 miles away — from where the attack took place in Apple Valley, California.
Connor Aranda, 8, was badly beaten Tuesday by a vicious labrador at an unlicensed home daycare center while being cared for at an unlicensed home daycare center in Apple, California.
Michelle Aranda, the boy’s mother, spoke of her son’s horrific injuries to “his face, chest, back and arm.” She said her son is in pain and shared the emotional scars he may now be facing
The child was rushed to the Loma Linda University Medical trauma center by a medevac helicopter – about 32 miles away – from Apple Valley, California, where the attack took place.
The home shelter where Connor was cared for before the near-fatal attack
The nursery’s owner, whose name has not been released, told the news channel that the dog attacked the child and that San Bernardino Animal Care and Control has removed the animal from her home where they will be euthanized.
There are currently no charges against the nursery’s owner, but Aranda said she is considering legal action.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department may be the lead in the attack. While Animal Care and Control is also investigating, the news outlet reported.
“I trusted her, trusted that he was safe there, that all my children were safe there,” said the defeated mother.
According to the state’s Department of Social Services, the home care permit application was pending, KTLA News reported.
Since the ordeal, Aranda said her son has already had multiple surgeries, and many more are on the way.
She said it was traumatic for her to see him in the hospital with no interest in talking, eating or drinking, and shared her concern about the emotional scars her boy had suffered from the attack.
“He’s just so sad. He doesn’t want to do anything or even get out of bed,” Aranda said, according to KTLA.
A photo of little Connor smiling at what appears to be a pumpkin farm
The graphics are a close-up of the bites Connor received during a dog attack on his body
A family friend has a GoFundMe to help pay for medical care and to help Aranda, a single mother who works full-time and has two younger children, with travel expenses.
As of Saturday morning, nearly $1,900 has been raised for their $10,000 goal.
“We’d like to raise money so Connor’s mother doesn’t have to worry about lost wages and mounting bills,” the message read.
This child is very special to many people, especially his mother. She has to be there for him and we have to be there for this family.”