6-year-old girl making remarkable progress after dog attack

WRIGHT COUNTY, Mo. — A six-year-old girl from Wright County is continuing to make remarkable progress after she was attacked by dogs this summer at her family’s home.

There was a time when it looked like Pearl Hartley wouldn’t survive, but now she’s continuing to surpass her doctor’s expectations, and she’s doing it with a smile on her face.

Her father Samuel Hartley says they still do not have a timetable as to when Pearl can come home from the hospital but they are getting closer each day.

“I give all praise to God,” Samuel said.

Samuel Hartley and his wife love animals and often foster dogs until they can find them loving homes, but on July 29, their worst fears became a reality when several dogs they were caring for attacked their daughter.

“An error happened and our daughter walked outside and thinking we were outside with them and we had walked in the front door. So there was about a five-minute window that she was outside looking for us. And we thought she was inside in her bedroom playing, which is where we had left her. So [my] wife actually came back inside to put her boots on and went outside and found what was going on,” said Hartley.

Samuel says his wife jumped into action — fending off the dogs until they could pull Pearl away and rush her to the hospital.

“We lost Pearl on the way to the E.R. and my 19-year-old daughter gave her CPR and brought her back,” said Samuel.

Samuel says Pearl suffered serious injuries to her legs and neck, and the family didn’t know if she would ever walk again.

‘Today she’s walking with a walker. And that’s not a question anymore,” Samuel said. “This little girl that six weeks ago was begging for her life is now just confounding the doctors on how in the world she is progressing so fast and does it with a smile and a laugh on her face,” said Hartley.

Michelle Bryan Day is helping organize a fundraiser for the family and says this was all made possible by one member of the Hartville Saddle Club.

“I am going to bring her name up, Chasity Dugger, and she has a big part in all this because she brought it to our attention, ‘Hey, I really want to do something for this family,’” said Day.

The fundraiser to help the family with hospital bills is actually a benefit gigging tournament , where there will be a fish fry and other activities. That will take place on September 21 from 4-10 p.m.

A GoFundMe has also been set up to help the family. It can be found here .

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