'I thought I was dead': Woman says pit bull knocked her out, sending her to hospital

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WEBVTT >> I GUESS I THOUGHT I WAS DEAD. TODD: WHAT DIANA LYNN HUNTER CALLS AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER WITH A PIT BULL COULD MEAN MONTHS OF PHYSICAL THERAPY FOR THE SINGLE MOTHER OF SEVEN. >> I CAN’T WALK RIGHT NOW. TODD: WHEN I SPOKE TO FIVE OF HUNTER’S CHILDREN AND A FAMILY FRIEND TODAY, THEY HAD TROUBLE HOLDING BACK THEIR TEARS. DENISE BOYD, LYNN HUNTER’S IS CARING FOR HUNTER’S KIDS AFTER SHE SAYS THEY ALL WATCHED A LARGE WHITE PIT BULL KNOCK THE 48-YEAR-OLD SINGLE MOM TO THE GROUND SATURDAY NIGHT. >> A LITTLE BOY OPENED THE DOOR, AND THIS PIT BULL CHARGED AT HER. SHE LANDED STRAIGHT BACK. >> HER HEAD WAS ABOUT, LIKE, THIS BIG. NO OVER-EXAGGERATION. SHE WAS VERY BIG. TODD: HUNTER’S 20-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER, BROOKE, SAYS THE POWERFUL COLLISION HAPPENED OUTSIDE AN APARTMENT IN EVANSTON. HUNTER SAYS IT HAPPENED WHEN SHE WAS TRYING TO PAY TO FIX THE WATER HEATER IN THE HOME OF HER FATHER, WHO DIED ON FATHER’S DAY. AFTER THE DOG KNOCKED HER TO THE GROUND, HUNTER SAYS IT BECAME AGGRESSIVE, RIPPING HER WINTER COAT. >> HE WAS AT ME. I MEAN, HE WAS AT ME. >> WHEN I GOT OUT THE CAR, I’M THINKING I’M ABOUT TO HAVE TO FIGHT A PIT BULL. TODD: BROOKE HUNTER SAYS THAT DIDN’T HAVE TO HAPPEN BECAUSE HER 13-YEAR-OLD BROTHER MANAGED TO PUT THE PIT BULL IN A HEADLOCK UNTIL THINGS CALMED DOWN. >> I DON’T KNOW IF I COULD BECAUSE IT WAS SUCH A BIG DOG, BUT I THOUGHT AT LEAST I COULD HOLD IT BACK FOR A COUPLE OF SECONDS. >> I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT HE WOULD HAVE BEEN AFRAID. BUT NO. THEY SAID HE WAS, FOLDS ARMS HE WAS REALLY, LIKE, INTO THE MOMENT. BUT OF COURSE HE HAD TO BECAUSE HE SEEN THE THE DOG WAS AT ME. TODD: HUNTER SAY SHE SUFFERED NERVE-DAMAGE AND WILL NEED THERAPY TO GET BACK ON HER FEET. THE TIMING IS TOUGH, SINCE SHE WAS TRYING TO GET CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR HER KIDS BEFORE SATURDAY’S UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT. TODD DYKES, WLWT N

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"I guess I thought I was dead," Diana Lynn Hunter said.What Hunter called an unexpected encounter with a pit bull Saturday night could mean months of physical therapy for the single mother of seven."I can't walk right now," she said.When WLWT investigator Todd Dykes spoke to five of Hunter's children and a family friend Monday, they had trouble holding back their tears."She's been through so much. I'm sorry," Denise Boyd said.Boyd, Hunter's godmother, is caring for Hunter's children after she said they all watched a large white pit bull knock the 48-year-old single mother to the ground."A little boy opened the door, and this pit bull charged at her," Boyd said. "She landed straight back.""Her (the dog's) head was about, like, this big. No over-exaggeration," said Hunter's 20-year-old daughter, Brooke Hunter. "She was very big."Brooke said the powerful collision happened outside an apartment in Evanston.Hunter said it happened when she was trying to pay to fix the water heater in the home of her father, who died on Father's Day. After the dog knocked her to the ground, Hunter said the dog became aggressive, ripping her winter coat."He (sic) was at me. I mean, he (sic) was at me," Hunter said."When I got out the car, I'm thinking I'm about to have to fight a pit bull," Brooke said.Brooke said that didn't happen because her 13-year-old brother, Brac'ari, managed to put the pit bull in a headlock until things calmed down."I don't know if I could because it was such a big dog, but I thought at least I could hold it back for a couple of seconds," Brac'ari Hunter said."I would have thought that he would have been afraid," Hunter said of her son. "But no. They said he was really, like, into the moment. But, of course, he had to because he seen (sic) the dog was at me."Hunter said she suffered nerve damage and will need therapy to get back on her feet.The timing is tough, since she was trying to get Christmas gifts for her children before Saturday's unfortunate incident.