Lily Norton, 6, of Chesterville was attacked by a dog Feb. 18 and was flown to Boston for treatment. Submitted photo
CHESTERVILLE — Lily Norton, 6, remained in Boston Children’s Hospital’s intensive care unit Wednesday for treatment of dog bites to her face last weekend, according to family friends Wednesday.
Norton was flown to Boston on Saturday for emergency surgery that took 11 hours and included over 1,000 stitches from under her eyes to the top of her throat.
Family friend CJ Pitcher of Livermore went to Boston with the Norton family and had his son Jackson Pitcher launch a GoFundMe page on behalf of the Nortons.
Now back from Boston, CJ Pitcher said Lily’s swelling is down, but she will be sedated for seven or eight more days because doctors are afraid she might scratch at her face. Doctors will also keep her on a breathing tube until Saturday when it will have to be removed to accommodate another surgery. She will be at the hospital for a minimum of 14 more days, according to CJ Pitcher.
“Her salivary glands aren’t working … and doctors said she won’t be able to smile again,” Pitcher said. “Muscles are too damaged.”
Norton’s mother, Dorothy, has been by her side since the attack, but her father, Leo, has been back home to care for their other children, Pitcher said.
The $6,500 online fundraiser now has $8,925 from 135 donations as of Wednesday afternoon. Pitcher said he and all the donors he knows hopes this enables the Norton family to continue concentrating on Lily.
The Pitchers debated whether or not to put a picture of Norton in her current state on the GoFundMe page, but CJ Pitcher said everyone they asked said they should. “Everybody hears about dog attacks, but they can’t really picture in their head what that looks like,” he said. “So, we put it up.”
Animal Control Officer Dexter “Buzz” Bridges said Tuesday that he could not comment on the incident because it is still under investigation. Pitcher said the dog that attacked Norton was a neighbor’s relative’s dog, and that neighbor was watching it. He said Lily was attacked when she went over to play with her friend.
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