JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 17-year-old girl is in intensive care at Wolfson Children’s Hospital after a medical episode that her family believes was triggered by a bite from a pit bull.
This happened Thursday evening outside Diamond Jones' apartment complex in Arlington. Her mother said the girl was walking with a friend when a dog running loose in the area attacked.
“Her pit bull attacked my daughter and she has a nice little gash in her foot. They called me and her friend told me she had just got bitten by the pit bull,” said Diamond's mother, Shalene Jones.
Shalene Jones said paramedics came and treated the wound to her daughter’s foot and left, but within 30 minutes her daughter had an asthmatic episode that triggered a cardiac event.
“She ended up going into cardiac arrest and having an asthma attack," she said. "They revived her, got her to the hospital. Since Thursday she’s been in ICU, and they can’t figure out if she’s going to come out of this or not."
Shalene Jones wants the dog's owner to be responsible for her dog.
"I feel like if it wasn’t for her dog being out … my daughter wouldn’t be in this situation right now,” Jones said.
Diamond's mother is also upset because she says police released the dog back to the owner.
“And I’m trying to figure out why. Why does she still have this dog? Why did this dog not get put down? This is a vicious dog,” she said.
News4Jax has contacted the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office about this case but has not received any information. The city of Jacksonville said this is an active investigation, so they can't comment at this point.