Life has just one constant: it is utterly unexpected. No matter how well you plan, something will always catch you off guard. And the surprise isn’t always pleasant. And a tragedy struck a South Carolina family, reminding them how unexpected and precious life is.
The Bayles family in Berkeley County, South Carolina is still grieving after a heinous occurrence that their family had to endure. The young family is still reeling from what happened on April 26, 2022.
When their elderly neighbor strolled onto their yard, appearing disoriented, it was a routine day for the Bayles family. Because the elderly neighbor experiences dementia, the family decided to assist her in regaining her with getting back home securely.
Bethany Hastings chose to return her neighbor in the family’s golf cart. She brought her 4-year-old daughter Lainey and 2-year-old son Wesley. When they arrived at their neighbor’s house, her pitbull had gone missing. When the dog noticed the family in the golf cart, it instantly leaped at them. He rushed onto the golf cart and assaulted all three of them.
Lainey, 4, recalled that first he grabbed her brother, then he got her, and then her mom. Bethany Hastings, a nurse by trade, physically restrained the dog for 15 minutes. She recalls those 15 minutes as horrifying, as the dog battled under her weight and lunged at her again.
She explained that she didn’t have much of an option. He would have gotten her or them again if she had let go. She restrained the dog until another neighbor came and loaded her children into his car. She refers to their neighbor as their hero. EMS came five minutes after their neighbor arrived and took the family to MUSC for treatment.
Bethany and Wesley escaped with minor injuries and were quickly discharged. Lainey, on the other hand, did not do as well. The four-year-old was hospitalized for four days, two of which she was in the pediatric intensive care unit.
Her mother explained they hadn’t seen anything exactly like that before to that magnitude, with that much destruction. Lainey will also have to undergo many treatments to repair the damage to her face.
Bethany Hastings explained, Lainey is in karate and tee-ball, so the mom expected her to end up in the hospital for a broken bone or something insane like that, but never this….never!
Since the incident, the family has acquired a little apprehension about going outside. Hastings said, remembering her family’s ordeal, after that, you understand precisely how fragile you are to everything.
The family has put up a GoFundMe page to help with Lainey’s medical expenses. In terms of therapy, the little child has a long way to go.
The pitbull that viciously assaulted the family has been euthanized by authorities. Bethany Hastings advises people to keep dangerous animals under strict control.
The ordeal Bethany Hastings and her small children went through was harrowing. Hope, they will be able to heal both physically and mentally soon.
