BALTIMORE (WJZ) — At 20-months-old, Kyree Simpson has already proven he is a fighter.

The toddler woke up in Johns Hopkins Hospital Saturday morning after surviving a dog attack last Sunday.

His mother said a friend’s pit bull latched onto the little boy’s head as he was walking outside the owner’s Halethorpe home,

The dog has since vanished.

“In that moment, I felt like I’d lost my baby,” Kiara Simpson, Kyree’s mother, said.

She said she witnessed the pit bull’s jaws pierced his skull. Doctors told her that his greatest threat now is the risk of a brain infection.

But, if and when that danger clears, he still faces a month of ongoing treatment to protect Kyree from possible exposure to things including rabies.

“I would think that you would put a child above a crazy, vicious dog,” Simpson said.

Something Kiara and police say Kyree might not have to go through if they could find his attacker.

“When we knock, it doesn’t sound like there’s a dog there. There’s no dog barking. Officers were able to see inside and notice that there are still bowls for food and water,” said Officer Jennifer Peach, spokesperson for Baltimore County Police.

Officers said the investigation was complicated from the beginning.

“We still don’t know exactly what happened,” Peach said.

The worried mom said what’s important now is one thing only.

“The right thing would be to turn the dog over. I don’t want anyone to go through what I went through. This is my worst nightmare,” Simpson said.

If anyone has any information on the dog’s whereabouts, Baltimore County Police is asking for information as soon as possible.

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