Dog did this to Sky Leigh Barker - but NHS tells her to wait 10 years for scar surgery
Dec 9 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner
Dog did this to Sky - but NHS tells her to wait 10 years for scar surgery
A GIRL who was mauled by a dog has been told to wait a decade before she can have surgery to reduce her scars.
Sky Leigh Barker, eight, needed 175 stitches to her head and face after being savaged by her neighbour’s Japanese Akita.
However, her parents face a bill of up to £70,000 if they want Sky to have surgery now instead of waiting another ten years.
The attack in the summer has left Sky scarred and scared.
And the youngster believes she’ll ‘never be pretty’ because of how the attack has left her looking.
The owners of the dog which attacked Sky did not have insurance, something the family are now campaigning for.
Her mum Amber Barker, of Rastrick, said: “It seems so unfair that a little girl can be left like this until she’s 18 before the NHS will do anything.
“The doctors have told us to wait and see if her skin changes.
“The only other option is to pay privately, which could cost around £60,000 to £70,000.
“Dog owners need to be responsible. They’d had this dog a few days and it should have been kept away from children.”
On August 12 Sky had asked her mum if she could stroke the Japanese Akita which was tethered in a communal area outside her Rastrick home.
Her mum said no, but when Sky went out to play later she asked the dog’s owner if she could stroke it.
