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Nancy Cherryl Burgess-Dismuke of Greenville was wrestling with her dogs in the front yard of her mobile home at about 1 p.m. Thursday when two of her boxer mixes became aggressive and turned on her, Greenville County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Ryan Flood confirms to PEOPLE in a statement.
Hearing her screams, neighbors came running and tried to pry the dogs away from her.
Grabbing a blunt ax, neighbor Denzel Whiteside worked to drive the dogs away from her, he toldThe Greenville News.
“I did everything I could,” Whiteside told local Fox affiliate WHNS.
His roommate, William Long, also came to her aid, using a drive shaft he found in the yard to beat the dogs away,The Greenville Newsreports.
Thanks to her neighbors’ efforts, she managed to stagger away from the horrific scene and “threw” her body over a fence to get away,The Greenville Newsreports.
But “extremely severe” dog bites on her upper extremities caused her to lose a large amount of blood, Senior Deputy Coroner Kent Dill said,The Greenville Newsreports.
The coroner’s office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
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“One arm was already bit completely off,” he toldThe Greenville News. “The other arm was barely hanging on.”
Amber Green, who called 911, toldThe Greenville News: “It went from looking like they were really playing to them really eating her alive.”
Sheriff’s deputies who responded to the 911 call tried to stop the bleeding with tourniquets, Flood says.
Though she was “alert” and “talking”with paramedics, she went into cardiac arrest at the hospital, Dill toldThe Washington Post.She died hours later.
Greenville County Animal Control confiscated the dogs, which were euthanized Friday, Bob Mihilac, Governmental Affairs Coordinator for the county confirms to PEOPLE.
Burgess-Dismuke often put her arms in her dogs’ mouths while playing with them, neighbor Whiteside toldThe Greenville News.
He remembered her as a kind woman who would help anyone with anything they needed.
“We’re praying for the family. Hopefully, they’ll get through this and we’ll be there to support them the entire way,” Whiteside said.
The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office and coroner’s office are still investigating the case.
source: people.com
