The family of a boy who was nearly mauled to death by a pit bull on Sunday have been left devastated as they say "he will never be the same".
Nine-year-old Alejandro Mizsan, from Ireland, was playing on a green area on an estate in Enniscorthy, Wexford when he was attacked by the vicious dog at around 4pm.
He sustained serious injuries to his face, including having his bottom lip and cheeks torn off as well as sizeable damage to his left eye and significant leg injuries.
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The young boy was only saved from the almost deadly attack when heroic neighbours stopped as they drove by before jumping out of the car and scaring the dog away.
Emergency services were called to the scene and Alejandro was then airlifted to Crumlin Children’s Hospital in Dublin.
His family have shared pictures of his painful injuries to show the damage that dangerous dogs can do.
Alejandro's older brother Raul, 21, revealed that the family have been left heartbroken by the terrifying incident.
He told the Irish Mirror: "We’re devastated. We don’t have words to describe the feeling we have now. My little brother is only nine years old, the pitbull nearly killed him.
“The pitbull destroyed him. He will never be the same again. His face is in bits. It’s just terrible. My brother’s life is destroyed. He will not be a normal kid like he used to be ever again.
“We don’t know what to do or how to act, we’re just in shock. We just thank god that he’s still alive. My brother is a very strong boy and he survived.”
Describing his brother's horrific injuries, he added: “You can only see his nose and his eyes, the rest you cannot see anything.”
The dog that attacked Alejandro had been roaming the estate freely without a muzzle and Raul claims that the attack happened just days after the dog had targeted other children.
He said: “My brother was just playing like every other kid. All the kids go out and play football or whatever. This is not our fault.
“It could be anyone’s kids. But not only did the dog attack my brother, he attacked another two kids a few days before and nobody said nothing.
“The dog was out in the estate. But it was a very dangerous dog. If an adult was attacked it would be the same situation as my brother.”
Alejandro underwent emergency surgery on Sunday evening as well as another surgery on Monday and he'll still have to have more, including skin grafts to the face.
Raul revealed that medics were amazed that his brother had survived the attack, adding: “Even the doctors, when they saw my brother they said they had never seen anything like this before and they are surprised that he’s still alive.”
He described his brother as "very popular" and said that the family believe it's a miracle he wasn't killed, telling the Irish Mirror: “Everybody loves my brother, he’s very popular there, our community, everybody loves him. He’s a very good kid to everyone, friendly.
“It’s a miracle that he is still alive. We truly believe only God can fix this. Nobody can bring my brother back again the same.”
The Mizsan family have been living in Ireland for over 10 years after moving from Romania but have only lived in the estate where the attack happened for around a year.
Despite being relieved that Alejandro survived, they've still been left distraught by his injuries, Raul said: “My mum is very stressed. My sister is five, she is crying. She is not eating or drinking.”
Following the attack, the dog was located and put down but it's understood that the dog owner hasn't been found yet.
In a statement, a spokesman for Ireland's national police service said: “A child (male) received serious injuries after being allegedly attacked by a dog.
“The child was later airlifted to the CHI at Crumlin in Dublin where he is undergoing treatment for serious injuries. The dog has since been destroyed.”
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