Senior Veteran Mom attacked by vicious dogs

My name is Wayne Thomas and my mom, Ms. Terri, was attacked by vicious dogs on 5-26-23 while getting groceries from her car. This 86 year old, retired Army veteran is now at Shands Hospital in Gainesville fighting for her life. The attack left my mom with several major injuries which include: Multiple lacerations over all of her body, a damaged trachea, a right ear that was chewed off and a right leg so badly damaged from the attack, that it had to be amputated. She has undergone several surgeries so far with many more days in the hospital to come. She is heavily sedated and medicated to alleviate the pain and she cannot talk while her throat is healing.

Thankfully, the dogs who attacked her have been caught and are now under observation with Animal Control until it can be determined that they don't have rabies before they are euthanized but that does not undo what has been done.

Ms. Terri has been a public servant her whole life before retirement. She has served in the Army, has served as Executive Director of CCNV, which is the largest federally operated homeless shelter in the country. She served as the Social Services Director and food pantry operator with the Salvation Army in Gainesville and is an active member of Mt. Zion AME Church in Hawthorne, Florida. With all of that, she still finds time to always help someone in need and will always try to give her last to help the downtrodden.

Ms. Terri needs your help, with all of the injuries and amputation, her recovery will be long and hard and with that, the medical and personal expenses that come with it. Any amount, big or small, can help this vet with fixing her home to make it wheelchair accessible, to helping with the mountain of bills from all of the specialty care she will need for the rest of her life. With a vet who is living off of a limited pension, this means a lot. If you can give, please do. This great lady, deserves as much love as we can give her after this horiffic tragedy. Thank you for your time and we appreciate you all so much! God bless you all!