Boy severely bitten in face by dog has first of several reconstructive surgeries

An 11-year-old Odessa, Mo., boy is undergoing a daylong session of reconstructive surgery Tuesday after being severely mauled in the face by a family dog.

Damian Sunderland was so severely bitten Wednesday that he has been on a breathing tube and an eating tube, according to Facebook posts by his mother and an administrator who set up a public group on Facebook called "love and support for Damian."

According to a statement by the University of Kansas Hospital, Damian and his mother, DeAnn Tieman, recently moved to Odessa to stay with relatives after a fire at their home in Oklahoma. Tieman recently got a new job and was at work when the attack happened.

Tieman, posting as Dee Irene on Facebook, said Damian has been communicating by writing on a tablet.

"He was asking such intense questions about his condition," she wrote shortly after the incident. "He surprised everyone with how intuitive he was. The sad part is he remembers the entire attack. He said he felt every bite.

"This made me extremely sad," she continued. "I was hoping this was not the case. But my little man was calm, collected and so brave. He's taking all this better than I am."

Damian is described as a boy who "loves to eat, play games and watch movies." Over the weekend he asked to play Xbox.

Through the hospital statement, Tieman said the family pet, described as a mixed breed, had previously shown no aggression toward Damien.

Online, Dee Irene said Monday that some people had been casting blame in the attack.

"For everyone that is blaming me, my family and/or my son for what has happened . . . SHAME ON YOU!" she posted.

Dee Irene said her son will be in the hospital for at least a month and maybe longer, requiring as many as two surgeries a week.

"This was not a simple dog bite," she wrote.

Brian Andrews, a plastic surgeon at the University of Kansas Hospital, confirmed that Damian's injuries are significant and "he has a long medical journey ahead," according to the hospital statement.

This story was originally published June 26, 2018 at 12:16 PM.