Stockton girl, 5, suffers 'gruesome' injury to face after being mauled by dog

A fundraiser has been set up to send a five-year-old girl to Disneyland after she suffered serious facial injuries in a dog attack.

Farrah-Leigh Nichol was petting a dog outside a shop in Norton Road, Stockton, at around 6:30pm on Saturday 13 August, when it turned around and attacked her.

She sustained significant injuries to her cheek in the attack and will require a series of operations to repair the damage.

Farrah-Leigh's father Alex said the attack happened during a routine trip to the shops after she had asked permission to pet the dog from the owner.

"She went to stroke the dog on the head," Mr Nichol told The Sun. "She loves dogs. She was stroking it really gently.

"The dog jumped and she jumped back and I thought, that was lucky. But then the next minute I saw her curled up on the floor and she said, 'dad'.

"She was crying and all her face was off. Her face was gone. It was just gruesome."

It is understood the dog has not been destroyed and is currently being held in kennels.

A GoFundMe has now been set up to send her and her family to Disneyland once she has recovered.

By Monday afternoon £1,500 had already been raised.

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