Recently, a two-year-old girl experienced a shocking incident that nearly left her with serious damage to one eye.

Isla Williams and her parents were attending a Winterton Agricultural show when she was suddenly bitten near the right eye by a dog as she leaned forward to try and pet and play with it. Isla spent five hours in the hospital and had one eye bandaged.

Isla’s parents, Megan Lester and Daniel Williams, were devastated and heartbroken by the incident. They also want to raise awareness among parents about the risks animals can pose.

Megan said, “I thought the dog was quite friendly, so I told Isla she could pet it. She was only a few feet away. Isla loves dogs, and we have a large Labrador, so she knew what to do and what not to do.”

Recounting the incident, Megan added: “Obviously, it was a terrifying moment. The dog bit Isla and she started bleeding immediately. I was extremely panicked and tried to give first aid as quickly as possible. However, we don’t blame the dog for what happened, nor do we blame the dog’s owner. No one expected this would happen.

But it happened, and we feel incredibly lucky that Isla wasn’t more seriously hurt.”

Danny, Isla’s father, also shared his thoughts: “Megan and I both appreciate and understand everyone’s comments about what happened. We never wanted the dog to be punished. We simply wanted to raise awareness. We are a family that loves animals. Isla is also a dog lover. This is a very difficult situation, but no dog has to pay the price for this.

We hope that through this, people can realize how fortunate Isla was. We also hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

A representative from the organizers stated that there had been no issues with dogs at the event before and a full review would be carried out to help prevent similar incidents in the future.