Update: A lightbulb just went off in my head tonight as I watched the sunset from the beach. And, yes…it helped to get out of my hotel room and go for a walk. The dog owner picked up her dog today. The dog is home sleeping in his doggy bed as my daughter was sitting in a hospital ER room all night. The family has decided to keep the nanny as an employee. As Lucy would say, “Seriously?”

Lucy is on her way home with Nikki. Primary Children’s ER Department monitored her for hours and made sure she did not have an infection from the dog bite. If Lucy hadn’t been bitten by the dog, we definitely would not have put her through another ER visit. We would have waited through the night.  Nikki is taking care of Lucy until we get home. Lucy will get to her own bed by around midnight tonight.

This dog did not only hurt a four year old innocent little girl, this dog hurt a RARE four year old little girl.

I would prefer to keep Park City safe from this dog. My Call To Action remains the same. The dog should not be allowed in a public setting.  Park City Dog lovers and owners should support my Call to Action. As Nikki, our nanny, said to me tonight, “I am a new dog owner,  as of a week ago, with my mother. It is clear that this wonderful puppy should not be around kids. So, I will grab my clothes while my mom watches Lucy in the car and I will stay at your house. I am very aware that this dog needs to be trained before he is allowed around children.”

Thank you, Nikki. You remain to be my calm and my strong.

Dear Dog Owner, do you realize that Lucy has suffered so much more than a simple – what was it that you said? – “Lucy fell down and he wanted to play with her” and “I think Lucy is more afraid to go to doctors than actually in pain?”

To everyone else that responded to my blog tonight. Thank you. I love you all, my RARE family!

Justin and I are huge dog lovers. It’s not the dog’s fault. It is the owner’s fault.

Much love,

Aloha

gina

Background information:

Lucy Szajnuk attacked by a dog

Lucy Szajnuk is at the ER tonight

About Gina:

Gina Szajnuk was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin and moved to Salt Lake City, UT, where she serves as the Co-founder and Executive Director for the Rare & Undiagnosed Network (RUN). Her three beautiful children, each of whom live with a rare and undiagnosed disease, continue to inspire and motivate her as she fights for clinical whole genome sequencing to be covered by insurance companies. Gina was recently asked to be the Utah State Ambassador for NORD (National Organization for Rare Diseases). She served on the Executive Committee for Utah Rare 2015. She is now the Chair of Utah Rare for 2016. She is on the Program Committee for the National Ability Center.