Senior citizen attacked and bitten by pit bulls

A Denver area woman is in the hospital after being attacked by two pit bull mixes owned by a neighbor.  The dogs got out of the yard through a hole in the fence and attacked the woman as she went to her car.  As a result of the dog bite attack, she suffered several dog bite wounds, a broken arm, and also suffered a heart attack due to the trauma.  She remains hospitalized in critical condition.

As an experienced Chicago dog bite lawyer, I know that there are two groups which are disproportionately the victims of serious dog bite attacks: small children and senior citizens. 

Children are frequent victims of serious dog bite attacks for two reasons.  One is that due to inexperience and immaturity, they do not always recognize the danger that a particular dog may pose and not know to avoid the dog or the situation.  The other reason is that due to small size and lack of strength, they are not in a good position to get away from the attack, break off the attack, or resist an attacking dog.  As a result, they tend to suffer more serious injuries in dog bite attacks.

Senior citizens are the other group of people who tend to suffer serious injuries as a result of dog bite attacks.  The main reason that seniors tend to be seriously injured at a more frequent rate relates to their physical condition: they tend to be more physically debilitated and less able to avoid or resist an attacking dog.  Further, once they are attacked, they tend to suffer injuries besides the lacerations and puncture wounds that are commonly associated with dog bite injuries.  Fractures from falling or being knocked to the ground by a dog, or as here, stress-related heart attacks tend to exacerbate the consequences of a dog bite attack.