7-year-old boy mauled by two pit bulls on Christmas Eve is home

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A seven-year-old boy is recovering at home after his parents said he was mauled by two Pit Bulls on Christmas Eve.

"I heard him scream and you know a mom knows that scream," said Ethan's mother, Tracy Dowdy.

Ethan's parents said he was doing what any boy his age would do, playing in his grandmother's backyard in Gwinnett County, swinging on a tree branch when the neighbors two Pit Bulls grabbed him by his coat and dragged him to the ground.

"They said if it had been one inch more then it would have hit the main artery and he would have bled out in the neighbors yard," said Tracy Dowdy.

Ethan was rushed to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.  His mother tells FOX 5's Nathalie Pozo he has more than 300 stitches on his body and that doctors were able to sew back one of his ears, but he lost the other.

"I had to find my child's ear, I had to find that," said Ethan's father, Allen Fain.  'I knew without that there basically was not any hope of my little boy looking the same."

Ethan's father was able to find it and doctors hope to reattach it, but little Ethan faces months of rehab and two years of major reconstructive surgeries.  The family said the medical bills are mounting and are grateful to those who have helped and prayed for their son who doctors said could have died.

Gwinnett County Police said the two Pit Bulls have been put down.  The dogs owner received two citations for public nuisance-attacks without provocation and duty to be responsible owner.

The family said they are just grateful this was not worse. "That child had a guardian angel looking over him in that backyard," said Allen Fain.

On Sunday, January 1, Ethan was moved to Scottish Rite to work on his physical therapy.  According to Dowdy, Ethan has been getting up and moving around on his own. Dowdy wants to thank everyone for their donations and kind comments.

If you would like to help the family, a family member has setup a fundraising site.  To date, the fundraising site has raised more than $10,000.  On Wednesday, January 4, Ethan went home.

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