I was about the age of six and I was doing the normal things six year olds do, when I had my bad experience. It changed my life, as up to this day I always used to like dogs (even really big dogs), because they had never bitten me until now.

 I walked away gradually picking up speed, by the time I was at full speed I didn’t want to look back as I knew the dog would be there gaining on me, getting closer and closer. It felt like hours before it leapt up onto my back grabbed hold of me with its razor sharp claws and pushed me to the floor, I nearly tripped, if I did it would have been fatal; then it pierced through my t-shirt and into my skin with its blade like teeth. By now I was running a little slower, as I had a fully-grown Alsatian on my back holding on by its teeth and I was yelling at the top of my voice, to my friend’s dad to call the dog off. The dog gave up trying to hold on with its teeth, but it didn’t stop chasing me until I got to the bottom of my lane, when just then the owner came out and shouted to the dog to call it back. The dog just strolled merrily back to the owner, as if it had done something to be proud of. But I didn’t care about the dog or anyone at that time, as I thought I was going to die because I was only about six at the time and was all shaken up.

I sprinted into my house seconds later which felt like hours screeching my head off, I tried talking to tell my mum what had happened but I couldn’t get my words out, as I was in a state of shock. When they had realised that I was in pain and needed attention, my dad ran and got the car while my mum seen what was wrong. I got to casualty to see a really big queue, I had to sit there for minutes in agony, but it felt like hours. When it was my turn to go in I was a bit nervous, as I had never been there for something bad before. But I only had to have some stitches in my back. The nurse told me, that if the dog had bitten centimetres deeper, it would have touched my spine and paralysed me for life.

After this happened I thought to myself, if I didn’t run the dog may not have chased me, which resulted in me getting bitten; but then again, if I didn’t run the dog may have bit me in the face, which would have been fatal. The only good thing about my near death experience is that I got the rest of the week off of school, to give the wounds time to heal. And from that day on my life has changed completely, as I am less trustworthy in dogs and less confident to approach a big dog, after my childhood trauma.