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The family of a young boy who was brutally mauled by a pitbull have told how they haven’t seen his heartbroken mum “without tears in her eyes” since the horror incident.
Alejandro Mizsan, nine, remained in Crumlin Children’s Hospital - where he is expected to stay for at least a month - yesterday after undergoing two surgeries as relatives stayed by his bedside.
Alejandro was playing on a green area of the Old Forge Road estate in Enniscorthy, Wexford on Sunday when he was attacked by the dog at around 4pm.
READ MORE: Man arrested over Wexford dog attack as child faces month in hospital
He suffered extensive facial injuries and serious leg injuries in the attack.
Alejandro’s parents - dad Ion Florin and mum Otilia - were at their Enniscorthy home yesterday morning ahead of travelling back to Dublin.
They got their eldest son to speak on their behalf as they have limited English.
Speaking about the effect of the ongoing ordeal on his parents, Raul, 21, told the Irish Mirror: “My mother is always crying. Since it happened, I haven’t seen her without tears in her eyes.
“She’s in a very bad depression at the moment. My dad is just in bits, and everybody is, all of our family.”
Jacinta Kennedy, neighbours with Alejandro’s family, was driving out of the estate with her two teenage sons, CJ and Adam, as they came upon the incident on Sunday and intervened as did another man with a stick.
Recalling the attack for the first time, Jacinta told the Irish Mirror: “When I drove around the corner, I had my two sons with me, CJ and Adam.
“We could see the dog. A man came running with a big stick. He was beating the dog.
“But my son CJ, he was on the phone to the ambulance straight away. Adam was trying to chase the dog off after the man hit the dog with the stick.
“And I just got the child up off the ground. He was trying to talk but the wounds on his face were very uncomfortable.”
Jacinta’s eight-year-old boy Max was playing out the front of her home.
In fear that the crazed pitbull might target her young lad, she ran back to her house to make sure he went back inside.
In the meantime, her two older sons had helped Alejandro back to his house.
She told us: “Then we placed him on the couch in his home. His mother was hysterical. The ambulance was there very quickly then.”
Alejandro was rushed to the nearby GAA grounds, where the Irish Coast Guard’s Rescue 117 helicopter airlifted the boy to Crumlin Children’s Hospital in Dublin, undergoing surgery that night and again on Monday.
The unmuzzled pitbull involved in the attack had been roaming the estate before the attack on Alejandro before he was later put down.
The Irish Mirror have confirmed that gardai are in contact with its owner who is assisting the investigation.
Sources last night told us that the probe is “progressing” well and will seek to determine whether the breed of dog should have been muzzled by law.
Yesterday, investigators called to houses which had CCTV on their property and downloaded footage. An arrest was made in the investigation on Tuesday.
American pitbulls, along with ten other breeds, are on a restricted list of breeds in Irish law which means they need to be muzzled in public and they can only be led on a lead by people over the age of 16.
Yesterday, Alejandro’s brother Raul said that his brother was only opening his eyes for a few seconds before going back to sleep again.
And the trauma is compounded with financial worry as young Alejandro will have to go abroad for surgery in future which they expect to be very expensive.
Raul - who won a world title boxing fight in Belfast in 2020 - told us: “He can’t talk, I don’t know if he will be able to talk normally again.
“We don’t know what the future holds. But we are struggling financially and we know that he will have to undergo more surgery in future which will be very expensive. We just need as much help as possible.
“He will have to go abroad at some stage and the cost is very high.”
The community where Alejandro’s family lives has begun a GoFundMe titled “Just playing with his friends” which had raised over €60,000 by last night. You can view the fundraiser HERE.
Raul added: “I just want to say thank you to everybody that helped my brother for the donations and all the prayers. We are so grateful.”
The Mizsan family are originally from Romania. They have lived in Ireland for over ten years and in the new estate where the incident happened for about a year.
Meanwhile, a man was arrested yesterday.
A Garda spokesman said: "As a result of an investigation into subsequent related matters, a man was arrested on the morning of Tuesday, 29th November, 2022 under the provisions of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997.
"He is currently being detained at Enniscorthy Garda Station under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. Investigations are ongoing."
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