A loyal dog and her even more loyal owner were reunited in a Manhattan hospital room Thursday, days after they were viciously attacked by a machete-wielding maniac who chopped off four of the owner’s fingers.
The emotional reunion took place in Rakeem Tayquon Young’s room at Bellevue Hospital, where he is recovering from a 13-hour surgery to reattach the fingers that were sliced off his left hand.
A shirtless Young was relaxing in his hospital bed when he received a visit from a very special guest.
Young’s tail-wagging dog, Chanel, a 3-year-old pit bull, was ecstatic, though she had trouble hopping in the bed with her human.
But once an aide adjusted the bed’s guard rail, the two were able to snuggle and move on from the traumatic time.
“Hi, hi, there you go,” Young cooed as the happy pooch licked his face. “Hi girl. Hi baby.”
Days earlier, the two were anything but happy when they were forced to protect each other from a man with a machete.
What started out as a routine walk along a Bronx street turned into a desperate fight for survival when they crossed paths with a crazed dog walker.
Young said Chanel approached the other dog, whose owner told them to back off.
“He was like, ‘Yo, get your dog. I’m [going to] chop her head off,’” Young said days later. “And then the dude just swung the knife at me for no apparent reason. I remember lifting my hand saying, ‘No! No!’”
As Young raised his hand to shield Chanel’s head from the large blade, the attacker chopped four fingers off his left hand.
Young is left handed.
“He went to hit me a second time, after he cut my hand,” Young. said “He swung for my face. He went to reach for the knife again, and that’s when [Chanel] attacked him.
NYPD
Police say this man pulled out a machete and sliced off Rakeem Tayquon Young’s fingers. (NYPD)
“I was just trying to protect [Chanel],” Young said. “And you know, I would do it again.”
Courtesy Tayquon Young
Rakeem Tayquon Young’s dog, Chanel. (Courtesy Rakeem Tayquon Young)
Only three of the four severed fingers were recovered and reattached by surgeons.
Cops are still trying to find the attacker.
Meanwhile, Young’s mother has launched a GoFundMe site to raise money for Young’s medical bills.
“He will need lots of medical care as well as intense physical therapy, which unfortunately we just won’t be able to afford,” Young’s mother, Kimtreese Young, wrote on the site.
Young won’t have to worry about a therapy dog. He already has that covered.
Originally Published:
