PHOENIX — A Valley toddler is beginning the long road to recovery after a gruesome dog attack.
Kayla Archer said a friend was babysitting her son, 2-year-old Desmond Archer, while her family was busy moving on Saturday.
“I was literally looking at a video of him playing with balloons and laughing and then I put my phone in my pocket," Archer said.
Archer missed six calls from her friend letting her know one of the balloons popped, spooking her friend's pit bull.
“They called me back finally and said, 'I’m so sorry, my dog attacked your kid,'" Archer said.
The dog had to be removed from the boy.
Desmond was rushed to the hospital with a huge cut on the left side of his face.
“When I saw what had happened, it just changed everything," Archer said. “He looked at me and he just said ‘Momma,’ and his face was gone."
Archer said Desmond's left cheek was missing.
Doctors used a piece of salvaged skin to repair it.
“The plastic surgeon did such an amazing job because we genuinely thought that he wasn’t going to come out of it with just a line on his face," Archer said.
Now at home, Archer said Desmond is acting almost as if nothing happened.
But, he does remember.
“He talks about it. He’s pieced together like everything that happened," Archer said. "That’s been great, but also really hard because he’ll tell me, ‘the dog jumped on me, bit my face.’”
Archer said the dog remains with its owner.
The toddler has a long road ahead of him, including possibly more surgeries and physical therapy.
While Archer is focused on her son making a full recovery, he's just focused on playing with his toys.
“To see him go from being pretty much immobile to normal. I’m just so in awe of him," Archer said. "Desmond is my hero because I can’t imagine being that strong.”
The family started a GoFundMe page to help the Archers pay the medical bills.
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