A young Australian girl who lost her arm in a dog attack has become a swimming star.
Thalia Standley, 8, had her whole primary school cheering her on as she completed a lap of a swimming pool at her school’s carnival. The emotional video, posted to Facebook, shows a dedicated Standley giving it her everything to make it to the end of the race.
“Not a dry eye at the pool. Thalias first swimming carnival. Amazing little girl,” the post reads.
It has been a long journey to this point for the little girl. In August, Standley’s arm was mauled off by an Alaskan Malamute while she was playing in her street in Lake Macquarie, New South Wales.
The details of the attack are chilling: Standley sat down near a retaining wall and through a gap in the wall the dog grabbed her by the finger and started chewing on her hand, while she was pinned against the fence. The dog made no sound and could not be seen.
While her friend ran to get help, Standley waited patiently for minutes while the dog continued to chew on her arm from the other side of the fence. She was forced to wait until an adult came to drag her away from the attack by punching the dog in the face. By this stage, her entire arm had been torn off.
It has been six months since the attack, and Standley has undergone nine operations on her arm and taught herself to write with her left hand. Her next focus is getting a prosthetic arm, and world domination.
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