The dog looked like it wanted to kill me.
People are prodding it, punching it.
The dog wouldn't get off or anything.
There was a lot of blood coming out.
You knew that the dog had hit an artery.
I'm just thinking, "Am I going to die here?"
I was 13 at the time.
It was summer of 2010.
Just on a hot summer day, going to my friend's to play football.
His mum came out, "Oh, sorry. He's not in."
Then I sat down to give him a call.
The dog, it was weird. It wasn't its usual self.
Immediately, I'm thinking, "What's going on here?"
But because I knew the dog, the last thing I thought was that it was
going to try and, you know, end my life.
Next thing I know, it tried to go for my neck.
If a dog is behaving aggressively, it could be territorial.
Don't run and don't try to intimidate the dog.
Stand side on and slowly back away.
I ran as fast as I could because the dog looked like it wanted to kill me.
I tried to vault over the fence and I'm thinking, "Have I escaped?"
Then the dog, full force, just bites.
DOG SNARLS
If the dog starts to attack, protect your neck and face above all else.
And, no matter what, stay on your feet.
If you can't get away or you're out in the open,
use something to shield yourself from the dog's bite.
If you're forced to fight back,
target the dog's most vulnerable areas.
I heard a scream and then that's when I see Nicky and the dog.
The dog's just gripped on the bicep.
He was screaming,
like, for help.
People are prodding it, punching it.
The dog wouldn't get off or anything.
There was nothing I could've done.
I just knew I needed to do something.
If a dog's got a hold of someone, don't pull at it.
This could make the injuries much more severe.
Jabbing something, such as a stick, or spraying water into
the dog's mouth could make it release its grip.
If that doesn't work,
try and get something over the dog's head to blind and disorientate it.
If all else fails, try and cut off the dog's airways.
DOG SNARLS
The owner of the dog was pulling the dog's leash,
but I shouted at her to stop.
I'm seeing all the blood coming through from my top.
I'm just thinking, "Am I going to die here?"
We had to get the dog's mouth open.
I got my sweeping brush.
They must have welded it in the jaw of the dog.
And we just kept banging it on the roof of the dog's mouth.
It took around five minutes and eventually,
they were able to cause it that much pain that it just released me.
It took a proper tear of out of his arm.
I was in serious shock and I actually saw a part of my bicep...
..on the ground.
There was a lot of blood coming out.
You knew that the dog had hit an artery or something like that.
The dog has severed Nick's brachial artery and, without treatment,
he could bleed to death in minutes.
Raise the limb above the head to limit the blood flow
and apply firm and direct pressure to the wound.
Don't loosen the pressure until the paramedics arrive.
We wrapped a tea towel around the top of his arm, here,
to stop the blood from coming out.
I kept coming in and out of consciousness.
The ambulance got there. They were driving over fields and everything.
And then I just remember waking up in the hospital bed.
When I got to the hospital,
he was just lying there and his eyes were closed.
I actually asked them if I could look at it.
It was the most disgusting mess.
They then told me, "Look, you've done serious damage to your arm.
"There's thoughts that we may need to amputate it."
They actually found one of the dog's teeth in his artery.
It was just so, so surreal.
I didn't know how many arms my son would have
when he came out of that operating theatre.
His bicep was not saveable.
I woke up.
They'd had to take veins from my leg to help support
the blood flow in my arm.
And that was the only possible way they could keep the arm on.
Sometimes I think about the other outcomes.
Maybe the dog would've took my life.
The women who helped...
It's hard for me to express how grateful I am.
If it wasn't for them, ultimately, I wouldn't be here today.
They literally had my son's life in their hands.
And they just...
..they just held on.
I always get people staring at it.
It's my scar, you know.
It's what I have to live with now but when I'm older,
I can look back and think, "I made it through this"
and it's made me stronger.