A HERO dad saved his son’s life after a vicious dog plunged its teeth into the four-year-old’s SKULL.
Jason Gooders, 36, charged at the dog and ripped it off his son, Noah, after he heard his boy screaming in their communal garden.
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Horrendous pictures show the huge gash the dog left on Noah’s head after the mauling, which happened on the boy’s fourth birthday.
The animal’s owner, Shae Wright, was charged with being in charge of an out-of-control dog after the attack but he was let off with a community order earlier last month.
Jason, of Sutton, London, told The Sun that the family were leaving their home for a birthday trip to Chessington World of Adventures when the attack happened.
He said: “Noah ran out the back door to run to our car and then I heard barking and screaming.
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“I ran out and saw Noah face down in the dirt in the garden and the brown Mastiff was on top of him. It had attacked him from behind and he had fallen forward.
“I could see its teeth in his head as it had pinned him down with its paws on his shoulders. I thought he was dead. It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. That image still haunts me now. You know every time I close my eyes I can just see that picture.
“Wright’s black dog was standing by Noah’s feet, almost guarding the other dog. It was almost like they were working together.
“I just ran straight at the dogs while holding my one-year-old daughter like a rugby ball in my left arm as I didn’t have time to put her down.
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“I basically rugby tackled the brown dog off Noah as best I could. At that point my partner Charlotte came out and I grabbed Noah by his shirt collar and just threw him towards Charlotte and said ‘back indoors now’.
“Noah wasn’t walking and Charlotte pretty much dragged him inside and I scrambled back to my feet, making myself as big as possible to shield Charlotte and Noah.
“I wasn’t looking at the dogs and one of them bit me on the top of my leg and bum, ripping a hole in my shorts. Its teeth punctured my skin and muscle.
“It hurt but the adrenaline was pumping through me. I just shouted really loud and they then ran off.”
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Noah’s mum and Jason’s partner, Charlotte Fordham told The Sun: “If Jason hadn’t gone out there my son wouldn’t be here now.
“I’m so grateful for that. I don’t know what I would have done if Jason wasn’t here. I don’t think I would have been able to drag the dog off.”
Jason ran back inside his home with his daughter after the attack, locking the door behind him.
He said: “The dogs were jumping up at the door almost like we had just taken away their dinner.
“I then looked around me and there was just blood everywhere. Tissue and flesh had been torn away from Noah’s skull. I could just see blood all over Noah and I told Charlotte I’m not waiting for an ambulance.
“I picked him up, ran out to my car, strapped him in, and drove to the hospital.
“I drove straight into the car park and ran straight into paediatrics; I didn’t even lock the car – I just left the key in the car.
“I basically kicked the door off its hinges at paediatrics because it’s kind of locked and the staff just turned to face me in shock.
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“They saw the blood all over Noah and they came straight over.”
Noah was initially treated at St Helier Hospital, in Sutton, but then transferred to St George’s Hospital for surgery.
A plastic surgeon at the hospital revealed to the family that the bite had gone down to Noah’s skull.
Reading out her victim statement in Croydon Magistrates’ Court, Charlotte, 36, said: “I was told that if the bite was centimetres lower Noah could have died.”
The impact of the attack on their boy – who is now five – has been devastating, Charlotte added.
She told the court: “Noah is extremely anxious now. He no longer wants to be alone. He asks about the dogs all the time.
“He believes they are in dog jail but he’s worried they might break through the bars and try to get him.
“I don’t want Shae to get the dogs back or be allowed to own any dogs in the future.”
Charlotte and Jason praised staff at St George’s Hospital for lifting their lad’s spirits during his stay by giving him birthday gifts.
The couple are now calling on others to donate toys to St George’s by contacting the “St George’s Play Team” on Instagram.
Despite the family’s pleas, prosecutors did not apply for a disqualification order to ban Wright from owning dogs in the future.
Police handed the second dog involved in the attack back to Wright after the incident.
Jason is frustrated that he has not been banned from owning animals.
He said: “The prosecution let us down. My son nearly died and it’s almost like they’ve just gone ‘ah he’s still alive, it’s alright’.
“We knew something was going to happen with these dogs. I’m worried there will be another attack as he’s still allowed to have dogs.”
Charlotte said she always had concerns about the dogs – and even took a picture of one of them off the lead before the attack.
Noah’s seven-year-old brother has also been affected by the attack, suffering nightmares about being chased and recently telling his gran he was “so glad Noah didn’t go to heaven”.
Croydon Magistrates Court heard how Wright took the dog, named Smash, to be euthanised after the attack.
Robert Katz, defending, said Wright showed “empathy and compassion” over the situation and took responsibility, pulling the dogs away after it happened.
He added that it was a “freak incident” that could not have been predicted. Wright moved out of the area following the attack.
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Croydon Magistrates Court handed Wright an 18-month community order.
He was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and pay the Gooders family £1,000 in compensation.