Posted 9:39 am Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Husband Tells Details Of Wife's Attack By Vicious Dogs
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By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer
Sean Langston rarely gets home early from work but a week ago Tuesday he did — and “by the grace of God” he found his wife still alive after she was mauled by two pit bulls.
Langston said Tuesday it will be a while before he is able to get the “indescribable scene” out of his head.
“Knowing how I felt when I found her, I can only imagine what she endured,” he said. “I literally thought she was dead, just from the conditions of her wounds.”
Kristi Langston remains in serious condition at a Tyler hospital and her road to recovery will be long and hard.
The dogs began their attack when Mrs. Langston was close to her house on County Road 1141, and then pulled her down a hill and behind a shed about 35 to 40 feet away.
When Langston got home an hour or more later, he said he felt something wasn’t right. The house and garage doors were open and just-bought plants were still in the pickup. He said he called for his wife but got no answer. When he went to the backyard, Langston heard a “faint but horrifying scream” and about the same time, saw one of his dogs running up the hill.
That’s when he saw her.
Langston was screaming, thinking she was dead, until he heard her say she was still alive. She told her husband she was glad he was there because she thought the dogs were going to come back and finish her off, he said.
The more Langston learns about what his wife went through, the more enraged he gets, he said, adding that the dogs attacked her three times.
Langston’s dogs and cat were outside during the attack. At one point, the attacking dogs left his wife and went toward their dogs but they submitted, and the attacking dogs went back to his wife, he said.
“It was only by the grace of God that I was allowed to be home early” from work and Mrs. Langston was strong enough for me to find her alive, he said. The dogs had pulled her down away from the house where no one would have found her, he added.
Langston used to be in emergency medicine and has seen things such as that before. But, he said, seeing his wife like that put a “feeling of terror” in him.
She is a strong woman, he said, adding that she must be for putting up with him for the last 20 or so years.
RECOVERY
Langston said it would be a while, if ever, until his wife wants to speak out, but she wants people to know what happened to her.
“This was a very vicious attack,” he said, adding that he wants people to know these things are going on in their backyard. Langston said they need to quit turning a blind eye to it.
But right now, the most important thing to Langston is his wife’s recovery, and the couple putting their lives back together.
“I’m still trying to get my head wrapped around the reality that is now our lives,” he said.
Mrs. Langston is still in serious condition, but doctors are cautiously optimistic. She underwent her second surgery Monday to repair a broken arm and they don’t know how much functionality she will regain in her arms. He said her legs will probably fully heal, but she will likely have terrible scars.
Monday’s surgery will be the second of many.
“They chewed her up really bad,” Langston said. “This shouldn’t have happened. This could have been prevented.”
Langston thinks about the elderly and children who live in the area, who if attacked by the dogs, would have been dead.
He said there has been a lot of finger pointing at the sheriff’s department because the dogs had been reported before, but law enforcement is “doing the best they can with the way the laws are written.”
He said dog attacks are becoming more frequent and more brutal.
He said the sheriff’s office has kept in close contact with him and he was aware of deputies looking to arrest the owner of the dogs.
The sheriff’s department has obtained an arrest warrant for Nolasco Gonzalez, 26, on the charge of attack by a dangerous dog causing serious bodily injury, a third degree felony.
“I do hope they find him,” Langston said. “I hope they make an example of him.”
He said his focus now is getting his wife back on her feet. But in time, he will start petitioning local, state and federal government about several issues including aggressive-natured dogs.
MEDICAL FUND
Langston thanked all of their family and friends and all of the people they don’t know who have given them their thoughts and prayers. He said he’s not sure how they will recover emotionally, financially or physically.
A fund has been set up for his wife — the Kristi Langston Medical Fund — at Bank of America. Donations can be made at any Bank of America.
“We’ve got a long way to go with her recovery,” Langston said.
It will be weeks or maybe months before she gets to go home and it will be months or years before she gets back to being Kristi, he said.
Her spirits are good but the big concern now is controlling infection and getting her wounds to heal. He said they are hanging in there and he believes it is because of the power of everyone’s thoughts and prayers.
Staff Writer
Sean Langston rarely gets home early from work but a week ago Tuesday he did — and “by the grace of God” he found his wife still alive after she was mauled by two pit bulls.
Langston said Tuesday it will be a while before he is able to get the “indescribable scene” out of his head.
“Knowing how I felt when I found her, I can only imagine what she endured,” he said. “I literally thought she was dead, just from the conditions of her wounds.”
Kristi Langston remains in serious condition at a Tyler hospital and her road to recovery will be long and hard.
The dogs began their attack when Mrs. Langston was close to her house on County Road 1141, and then pulled her down a hill and behind a shed about 35 to 40 feet away.
When Langston got home an hour or more later, he said he felt something wasn’t right. The house and garage doors were open and just-bought plants were still in the pickup. He said he called for his wife but got no answer. When he went to the backyard, Langston heard a “faint but horrifying scream” and about the same time, saw one of his dogs running up the hill.
That’s when he saw her.
Langston was screaming, thinking she was dead, until he heard her say she was still alive. She told her husband she was glad he was there because she thought the dogs were going to come back and finish her off, he said.
The more Langston learns about what his wife went through, the more enraged he gets, he said, adding that the dogs attacked her three times.
Langston’s dogs and cat were outside during the attack. At one point, the attacking dogs left his wife and went toward their dogs but they submitted, and the attacking dogs went back to his wife, he said.
“It was only by the grace of God that I was allowed to be home early” from work and Mrs. Langston was strong enough for me to find her alive, he said. The dogs had pulled her down away from the house where no one would have found her, he added.
Langston used to be in emergency medicine and has seen things such as that before. But, he said, seeing his wife like that put a “feeling of terror” in him.
She is a strong woman, he said, adding that she must be for putting up with him for the last 20 or so years.
RECOVERY
Langston said it would be a while, if ever, until his wife wants to speak out, but she wants people to know what happened to her.
“This was a very vicious attack,” he said, adding that he wants people to know these things are going on in their backyard. Langston said they need to quit turning a blind eye to it.
But right now, the most important thing to Langston is his wife’s recovery, and the couple putting their lives back together.
“I’m still trying to get my head wrapped around the reality that is now our lives,” he said.
Mrs. Langston is still in serious condition, but doctors are cautiously optimistic. She underwent her second surgery Monday to repair a broken arm and they don’t know how much functionality she will regain in her arms. He said her legs will probably fully heal, but she will likely have terrible scars.
Monday’s surgery will be the second of many.
“They chewed her up really bad,” Langston said. “This shouldn’t have happened. This could have been prevented.”
Langston thinks about the elderly and children who live in the area, who if attacked by the dogs, would have been dead.
He said there has been a lot of finger pointing at the sheriff’s department because the dogs had been reported before, but law enforcement is “doing the best they can with the way the laws are written.”
He said dog attacks are becoming more frequent and more brutal.
He said the sheriff’s office has kept in close contact with him and he was aware of deputies looking to arrest the owner of the dogs.
The sheriff’s department has obtained an arrest warrant for Nolasco Gonzalez, 26, on the charge of attack by a dangerous dog causing serious bodily injury, a third degree felony.
“I do hope they find him,” Langston said. “I hope they make an example of him.”
He said his focus now is getting his wife back on her feet. But in time, he will start petitioning local, state and federal government about several issues including aggressive-natured dogs.
MEDICAL FUND
Langston thanked all of their family and friends and all of the people they don’t know who have given them their thoughts and prayers. He said he’s not sure how they will recover emotionally, financially or physically.
A fund has been set up for his wife — the Kristi Langston Medical Fund — at Bank of America. Donations can be made at any Bank of America.
“We’ve got a long way to go with her recovery,” Langston said.
It will be weeks or maybe months before she gets to go home and it will be months or years before she gets back to being Kristi, he said.
Her spirits are good but the big concern now is controlling infection and getting her wounds to heal. He said they are hanging in there and he believes it is because of the power of everyone’s thoughts and prayers.
