Thornton Heath dad praised for saving baby from 'crazed' pitbull (From Your Local Guardian)

Thornton Heath dad praised for saving baby from 'crazed' pitbull

7:48am Wednesday 15th October 2008 in

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A hero bus driver spoke of his horror after seeing a baby hanging from the jaws of a “crazed” pitbull dog.

National Express worker Abdul Khan, 43, from Thornton Heath, helped to save one-year-old Amir Santos – who was dragged 60 yards by the ferocious animal.

The pitbull, named Asbo, attacked five people last Wednesday in Mitcham after escaping from his owner’s garden. He was later caught and shot by police.

The drama unfolded at about 11.20am, in South Lodge Avenue.

“I saw the baby being eaten by the dog and the mum was crying and trying to protect her baby but she was unable to because she had another girl with her.

Abdul Khan

Mr Khan saw the dog with little Amir’s feet in its mouth and the boy’s mum frantically trying to pull her son free, screaming and crying.

He said: “I saw the baby being eaten by the dog and the mum was crying and trying to protect her baby but she was unable to because she had another girl with her.

“She was in a terrible state, she was crying. I couldn’t imagine the pain the mum was feeling.”

A group of men, including drivers Sunil Nadaranjan Raj and Sreejith Sugarajan, from Croydon, rushed to help the boy and tried to drive Asbo away by hitting it with a fire extinguisher and sticks.

Mr Khan, who has worked for National Express for five years, said he has an 18-month-old daughter and this encouraged him to save Amir.

He said: “I did not think about the danger I was facing. The first thing that came into my mind was ‘how can I save this baby and help this lady’? I could not hold myself back.”

Mr Khan continued: “In the struggle [the mum] lost the grip on the child and the dog started running away. It was holding the child by the feet and his head was banging on the ground. I rushed at the dog and kicked its belly and my colleagues tried to scare it and hit it with a stick. Then it left the child and came at me.”

He and his colleagues ran and shut themselves in a van, but the dog still tried to attack them.

Mr Khan’s hand was bitten, and his colleague Mr Raj was left with wounds to his arm.

The dad-of-four said the dog owner should have been more responsible. “The owner said the dog had broken the fence and come out but there was no collar on its neck. She should have taken more notice and called the police.”

Mr Khan works for National Express London on the 152 Croydon service. He returned to duty as normal the next day.

Amir suffered leg injuries and was discharged from hospital later.

Mr Khan said: “I’m happy the child has been released. It could have been a very bad situation, we could have lost the child.”

A National Express London spokeswoman said: “We are being told his actions were heroic.”

The dog’s owner, a 29-year-old woman, was arrested and released on bail to a date in mid-November.