Former area man rescues girl
A former Fayette County man says he’s no hero despite literally heading into the jaws of danger last weekend. Jerry LaMonica, 75, of Dearborn Heights, Mich., formerly of Newboro, Menallen Township, was out for a walk Sept. 25 in his hometown when he witnessed a pit bull terrier attack a young girl.
“I usually just walk around the block. That day I decided to go a block farther up my street, then around. I was about one-third down the block when I saw a pit bull run out of a gate and attack a girl who was riding a scooter on the street. She fell down and he attacked her and started chewing on her,” LaMonica said.
LaMonica said he yelled at the dog and it turned to attack him.
“I kicked him real hard. I was aiming for his throat, but hit his chest. It knocked him back and he came at me again,” LaMonica said.
The owner then came out and called the dog, which returned to its yard, but not before injuring both LaMonica and the 10-year-old girl.
“The Dearborn police were there within three minutes and the ambulance was there in about five minutes. They patched us up and took us to the hospital,” LaMonica said.
LaMonica required 15 stitches to close a wound to his leg, while the girl received a similar number of stitches for injuries to her arm and knee. The girl’s father is a Dearborn police officer, LaMonica said.
“They came and thanked me and called me a hero. I said, ‘I’m no hero, give the glory to God. He put me in the right place at the right time,'” LaMonica said.
“By the grace of God I walked an extra block that day, or I would have been home already.”
LaMonica is a 1952 graduate of Uniontown Senior High School and moved to Dearborn a year after his graduation, but still visits the area regularly. LaMonica said he most recently attended a high school class reunion in August, staying with his sister, Grace Tacmar, in Newboro.