The 8-year-old daughter of a Newark, Delaware city councilman had multiple surgeries, including one to reattach her right arm, following an attack by the family's pet pit bull Saturday afternoon.
After spending several days fighting to recover from multiple dog bites that critically injured her Saturday, Emily Ruckle's first words to her family were, "I want to leave," according to the Facebook page of her mother, Maria McGuinness Ruckle.
Emily is one of McGuinness Ruckle's and husband, Todd Ruckle's four children. Her father was elected to his first-term as councilman in April 2014, according to the city's website.
"The doctor told us this was the worse dog [attack] she has ever seen and this is her specialty," McGuinness Ruckle wrote in a Facebook post Sunday.
The 8-year-old girl was at her Adelene Drive home with her 15-year-old sister around 1 p.m. Saturday when the family's pet pit bull viciously attacked the younger child, police said.
The aggressive dog initially prevented the siblings from leaving the room where the attack occurred, but the teenager was able eventually to carry her hurt sister past the pit bull, authorities said.
"She also helped control her sister's bleeding until help arrived," Police Sgt. Michael A. McColley, a spokesman for New Castle County EMS, told the NewarkPostOnline.Com.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
The dog's behavior continued to prevent medics from treating Emily at the scene, which led Newark police to shoot and kill the pet, according to officials.
The critically injured child was airlifted Saturday to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she is still recovering Tuesday.
When reached by phone, the councilman declined to comment on his daughter's condition.
"I'm just focusing on my daughter right now," he said.
