Pregnant woman who was flattened by a rottweiler that fell from a third-floor window could go DEAF, her father says – as the dog’s owner reveals she has got a new rottweiler puppy
A father whose pregnant daughter was hit by a six-stone Rottweiler that fell from a third-floor window has described how she ‘could have died’ in the incident.
MailOnline exclusively revealed how Ludovica Caprino, 27, was seriously injured after eight-month-old dog named Cody landed on her as she walked down a busy street with her mother.
Ludovica, who is expecting a baby in the spring, was pictured lying on the ground with the dog sadly dead nearby as paramedics rushed to the scene in one of Rome’s poshest streets.
Her father, who wished to remain anonymous, told Italian media: ‘Ludovica has a fracture on the left side of her head.
‘The dog hit her in the neck, but if she had hit her head she wouldn’t have made it.
The scene of the accident. Pregnant woman Ludovica Caprino was seriously injured after being hit by a six-stone Rottweiler that fell from a third-floor window
Ludovica Caprino, 27, is in hospital after the accident on Via Frattina in Rome
The eight-month-old dog – named Cody – (pictured with owner Emilia Mikela Pawlak) suffered fatal injuries after falling about 10 meters
‘My daughter could have died, she was hit by a 40kg dog that fell more than ten meters from a third floor window. By some miracle she’s still alive.’
He added: ‘After she was hit she bled for ten minutes and showed no signs of life. She lay in a pool of blood.
‘Something like this is simply unacceptable, since this happened last Friday our lives have changed.
‘I want to remain anonymous because we have received threats on social media in recent days and some of the stories I see are also just lies.
‘She was hit by a dog and apart from the head wound. She also has injuries to her ear. She might even lose her hearing.
‘It looks like the baby is fine, but that’s true after he’s born too. She will have to undergo surgery to try to restore her hearing, even if only partially.
‘She also has injuries to her jaw and a number of teeth have been broken off. She also had a displaced placenta, but like I said, it looks like the baby is fine and she won’t lose him.”
Ludovica – who works for World Rowing in the Swiss city of Lausanne – was visiting her parents in Rome when she was hit by the dog, which later died from its injuries.
He added: ‘The night before all this happened she had come to visit us and tell us the wonderful news that she was pregnant, and the next day she went to the hairdresser with her mother.
‘I was absolutely delighted. I was on cloud nine – I was going to be a grandfather and I went to meet them in town.
Cody’s and his owner Emilia Mikela Pawlak, who said: ‘I just don’t know what happened’
Some witnesses reported thinking it was a gunshot when the animal hit the ground
“My wife told me she just heard a huge bang, like a gunshot, and everyone was running and then she saw our daughter lying on the floor in a pool of blood coming from her head.
‘She told me she wasn’t moving and she thought she was dead. My wife is still in shock. We are all.
‘Since this happened I have heard a lot of nonsense about what happened and that is why I have decided to speak out and explain what exactly happened.
“People need to understand that two parents are going through tremendous pain here – two parents who went from the joy of knowing they were going to be grandparents to the possibility of losing their child because she was hit by a 100-pound dog that flew out of a window on the third floor.’
Her father added that she was expected to be released from Policlinico Umberto I Hospital in Rome in a few days and that they were considering legal action against Cody’s owner Emilia Monika Pawlak.
Cody and owner Emilia Mikela Pawlak – who visited Ludovica in the hospital
A 27-year-old is in hospital on Friday after the accident in Via Frattina, one of the chicest streets in central Rome (file photo)
Meanwhile, she has revealed that a mysterious benefactor has given her a new dog to replace Cody, who she only adopted earlier this year from a kennel on the outskirts of Rome.
Emilia, who has said she accepts responsibility for what happened to Ludovica, added: ‘Someone just knocked on the door and handed me a little puppy, a rottweiler, and said it was to replace Cody.
‘It was a human. He was with a woman he said was his wife, and they had a child with them. I had never seen them before.
“He gave me the little puppy and said it was to replace Cody, and I said it was too early to have a replacement and he said, ‘consider it a gift from Cody.’
‘I couldn’t hold back my tears. How could I refuse that they were angels to me? I am so deeply grateful to them.
“I haven’t named him yet, and obviously he can never replace Cody, but he will still be part of our family.”
Emilia added: ‘I’m still very angry about what happened last Friday. It feels like it’s all my fault. The woman is in the hospital because of me, even though people told me Cody didn’t actually hit her.
“As I was told, Cody passed very close to her, did not hit her, but the shock caused her to jump back and hit her head on the ground.
“I’m still waiting to hear from her, but I hope everything will go well for her.”
A police spokesman in Rome said they were investigating the circumstances but no charges had yet been laid and no official complaint had been made against her.