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'I thought I was going to die': Woman's terror during horror attack by XL Bullies in south London park
5 October 2023, 16:15 | Updated: 5 October 2023, 16:19
A woman has revealed she thought she was going to die when she was attacked by three dangerous dogs in south London.
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Lakaydia Reynolds, 24, was mauled by the dogs - two XL Bullies and an American Pitbull - in Tulse Hill on June 6.
Two of the dogs came up to her off their lead as she was walking down the road. She asked the owner to take them away from her, but they did not react to his instructions.
The dogs then jumped up and began attacking her, biting and scratching her skin, before the man came over. But he had another dog on a lead, which then also joined in the mauling.
The horrific incident was one of a catalogue of dangerous dogs attacks in the UK, including some fatal incidents, which have spurred the government into pledging to ban the breeding of XL Bullies.
"I thought I was going to lose my arm": Girl mauled by 2 XL bullies and 1 American Pitbull Terrier
Ms Reynolds told LBC's Shelagh Fogarty that at first she thought the dogs were being playful, and she wasn't scared of dogs.
"I remember thinking it was just dogs that were going to follow me, dogs that were just being friendly, and just not being scared until they started to attack me.
"And that's when I felt the fear. Because I knew that I hadn't gotten away when I did that they were definitely going to kill me."
The attack left her with nerve and muscle damage, as well as a lip injury, an arm injury and scratches and bites on her legs.
Ms Reynolds added: "I was trying my best to stop them from getting my neck as well."
The terrifying attack lasted several minutes. Ms Reynolds was eventually able to escape by pulling off her hoodie.
Bystanders witnessed the attack, and one even filmed it, with the footage going viral. But none of them were able to help, which Ms Reynolds said was "understandable".
Shockingly ambulance workers said they would not able to get to the scene for 20 minutes. Ms Reynolds' driving instructor was nearby and offered to take her, but she eventually went in a police car that happened to be nearby.
Describing her arm wound, she said: "It was really deep. Nerves are actually close to your bone, so you can imagine how deep that bite had to be to cause nerve damage.
"It was so deep, and so big that I could actually see my fat, which was scary for me... It was was literally a cross section of my arm, which was really scary for me."
She added: "I was like 'oh my gosh, if this gets infected, I'm going to lose my arm."
Ms Reynolds did not lose her arm, but it is unclear if her nerves will recover.
She was also forced to miss her university exams, which has set her a year back on her goal to study medicine.
Ms Reynolds called for dog owners to train their pets better to avoid similar attacks.
"I think that there needs to be a lot of emphasis on responsible dog ownership," she said.
"I feel as though some people are very irresponsible dog owners, which leads to situations like this. So had that dog had the muzzle it wouldn't have bitten me.
She added: "And I also think that mandatory training for dogs is very important".
