Pit bull who saved woman from knife attack has died

The pit bull who saved a Fort Myers woman Friday from a stabbing has died.

Victoria Snyder, the dog's owner, said she and her family found out Saturday their dog didn't make it after she jumped in to save Synder's mother-in-law from an ex-boyfriend with a knife.

The man, named Walter Williams by witnesses, struck Lucy the dog instead.

Snyder said Lucy was wounded three times.

Lisa Potts, who the dog defended, said she was sad.

"It's just ridiculous," Potts said. "If it weren't for that dog it would have been a different scene."

Snyder, 20, said Lucy went into cardiac arrest at the animal hospital where she was taken.

"They worked on her yesterday but she went into cardiac arrest because she had lost so much blood," Snyder said.

After the altercation at the Jones Walker Palm Gardens Apartment in Fort Myers, Potts leaned over Lucy as she held a blood-soaked white towel to the dog's wounds. She said she was thankful for Lucy's actions in coming between her and Williams. Williams was cuffed by police and taken away on a stretcher.

"He probably wasn't in his right mind but that's no excuse," Potts said.

Potts stayed with Lucy until Lee County Domestic Animal Services arrived to care for the dog.

"She saved all our lives, she really did," Potts said.

Potts said the family hasn't prepared to tell her grandchildren about the dog because it's so close to the holidays.

Snyder and her husband Rodrick Gibbons have a second dog, but it won't be the same without Lucy who was with the family for about six years, she said.

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with Lucy's veterinarian costs and cremation expenses.