VILLA RICA, Ga. — A dog sitter said she thought she was going to die when a pit bull she was watching suddenly attacked her and refused to let go. She thanks her daughter for coming to her rescue.

“Blessed. Really blessed to be alive.” That’s what Samantha Hesler said just days after she returned home from the hospital where she underwent multiple surgeries.

Hesler feels blessed to be alive after a vicious attack by the dog inside her garage in May.

She was dog-sitting and had taken him for walks at eight in the morning and eight in the evening for at least three days. She said the dog was always fine.

Then, on the day of the attack, Hesler said she put a leash on him while he was inside his cage and was about to take him for a walk.

That’s when the life she knew suddenly changed.

“He just grabbed. Jumped and grabbed my arm,” she described “And just started shaking.”

Helser said the dog wouldn’t let go. His power was starting to overwhelm her. The mother of three braced herself against the garage door.

“I knew like it was over for me if I fell,” she said.

Still, the dog kept on the attack.

“And I just started screaming for my daughter to go get my gun,” she recalled.

Instead, her 16-year-old daughter ran to the kitchen and returned with a butcher’s knife.

“And I just kept stabbing it,” Kanya described. “And I just realized this is not doing nothing.”

That’s when she stabbed the dog in the eye. It briefly let go of Hesler’s arm, then Kanya began dragging her mother inside the home. The dog still bit Hesler’s leg and feet before they got inside.

Hesler spent a month in the hospital. While there, she grew weary of her long stay and recorded a video.

“I’m ready to go home,” she said as she looked into the camera.

Doctors wanted to amputate her arm.

“It was amputated or the journey I’m doing now,” she said.

Her mutilated arm is sewn to her side in hopes it will regenerate enough blood vessels and blow flow so that she can hopefully regain some use of it.

Hesler said police shot the dog three times and animal control tased it. Even still, it was aggressive to the point animal control had to gas it to get it out of their truck.

Hesler said she later learned the owner of the dog was training his animals to be aggressive. She wants people to know the history of any dog you allow in your home. Especially pit bulls.

“Because if it grabs one of their kids and it’s only a matter of time it’s not gonna be a good outcome,” she said.

Hesler can’t thank her daughter enough for how she responded that day. She said if she had done anything differently she might not be here.

Click here to contribute to a GoFundMe account set up to help the family with medical expenses.

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