An 11-year-old boy who was the victim of a horrific dog attack late last month says he is “not ready to leave this world.”
Bramwell Rodriguez-Rojas says he was playing in his backyard in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood when he was mauled by a dog on Dec. 30, 2020.
Home surveillance video shows two dogs walking without leashes in the neighborhood before the boy was attacked.
“I heard a bark and then I turned around and started screaming. I put my arm in my face and then everything just started to happen,” Rodriguez-Rojas said. “I was looking at the dogs. They both had bloody teeth. I was crying and telling Jesus to save me.”
An off-duty Boston police officer heard Rodriguez-Rojas screaming and raced in to save him. The officer fired his department-issued gun in order to stop the attack.
“Then he put his arm on my chest and he was seeing that I kept breathing,” Rodriguez-Rojas said of the officer. “He was telling me to stay with him and I tried my hardest to not close my eyes.”
Rodriguez-Rojas suffered vicious bites to his neck, arm and legs. He underwent two surgeries, including one that lasted 6 hours. His body was covered in stitches.
Georgia Rojas, the boy’s mother, says that the officer who saved her son’s life is “a guardian angel.”
“If that police officer asks me for my soul, I would give it to him,” Rojas said in Spanish. “I know that God performs miracles. He was instrumental in the hands of God, in giving my son the help he so desperately called for in that moment.”
In the aftermath of the attack, the community came together to help raise more than $30,000 for the boy’s medical expenses through a GoFundMe page.
Rodriguez-Rojas was able to return home after spending more than a week in the hospital.
“I feel in a great mood. I’m actually really happy that I’m here in my house with my mom and dad, and my brother and sister. I’m really happy,” he said. “That story… isn’t bothering me anymore, because I know I was protected with angels and everything. Everyone was there for me.”
The dog who attacked Rodriguez-Rojas has been euthanized. It is not clear if the second dog was involved in the attack, and it was last known to be in the custody of Boston Animal Control.