The woman had to have both her arms amputated, but her kidneys began to fail and she died of her injuries in the hospital.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on December 22, 2021. It has since been updated.
Trigger Warning: This story describes death in a violent manner that may be disturbing to readers.
When Heather Pingel's four-year-old child fell down the stairs, she called her longtime boyfriend Shane Bernarde, who was at his brother's home. She told him that their child, Damion Bernarde, had fallen down the steps and she didn't know where he was, according to a police report from the Shawano County Sheriff's Office, states Wasau Daily Herald.
When Bernarde got home, he saw that his partner was being attacked by their pet dog, according to PEOPLE.
According to an incident report, Pingel, 35, saw that the dog was attacking their son, and tried to save him from danger, but the dog turned on her, instead. The horrifying incident took place on December 8, 2021, inside the house in Bowler, Wisconsin, that Pingel and Bernarde shared, along with their son Damion and daughter Carmen Bernarde—who was at school during the time of the attack.
Pingel's boyfriend was left with no other option but to kill the dog to curb its aggressiveness, so he grabbed his gun and shot the pit bull that the family took in after it was abused by a previous owner. Bernarde was bit by the dog, as well.
“We don't know how long she was in there fighting him off," Pingel's sister, Shannon Pingel said. "Shane got home to find her lying on the bathroom floor. She said, ‘I have no arms and I'm dying.'"
When officers turned up at the residence around 3 pm, they found Pingel on the bathroom floor, struggling to breathe and unable to speak. Damion was sitting in a chair in the living room with a severe injury to his leg, the report said. The dog's body was found outside the home, they added.
The mother, father, and son were rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. Pingel suffered from kidney failure following the attack and both of her arms were amputated, among other health issues, Shannon said.
The only person who knew what exactly happened was Pingel, but she was unable to communicate with either her family or the cops, said Shannon. But the family believes they know what provoked the dog to attack. “The dog was always kinda skittish when loud noises happen, so we are guessing Damion fell down the stairs and was crying and might have even kicked up towards the dog, and the dog grabbed his leg and Heather did everything she could to save her son,” Shannon said.
Heather Pingel, a 35-year-old mother of two, suffered devastating injuries after saving her 4-year-old son from their pit bull. https://t.co/4TvwaQaq7h
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) December 21, 2021
Apparently, this was not the first time such an incident had occurred, which made the family question the dog's temperament, but Pingel couldn't bring herself to give up the dog. “My sister has the biggest heart for animals and just couldn't get rid of it ... her heart was too big and they thought they could fix him,” Shannon said.
Unfortunately, days after she was taken to the hospital, on December 17, 2021, she died due to her injuries, but the boy is now back home, though he has about 70 stitches on his leg.
A GoFundMe campaign has been started to raise money to pay for Pingel's medical expenses and funeral.
"A dog attacked their son and she did what any amazing mother would and sacrificed herself to save him," Shannon Pingel, Pingel's sister, writes of the "unimaginable" attack. "He is doing good — a lot of stitches, but nothing too serious. My sister was not so lucky; she lost her life saving her son."
So Tragic😭
— Ena Cecilia (@enaceccyy218) December 22, 2021
RIP Heather 💔💔
Please help Heather Pingle's family.
Two children have lost their mom. https://t.co/tLb4Gz24JX
The page notes that Pingel's boyfriend lost his job a day before the attack.
Shannon told WSAW that her artistic sister loved being a mom and lived for her kids. "I'm going to miss how wonderful she was as a mother," Shannon said. "She did anything and everything for her two kids. She was a stay-at-home who loved her job. And her kids adore her. I'm going to miss calling her and asking when she was going to be here... because she was always running late. I'm just going to miss everything about her."
Pingel's cousin, Jennifer Person, also spoke to the station. "She was just a wonderful person," Person said. "So kind and loving. She was always there to help people whenever she could. Her kids were everything to her. She loved them so fiercely, as she demonstrated by giving her life so her son would survive."
References:
https://people.com/crime/wisconsin-mom-killed-trying-defend-son-attack-family-pit-bull/
https://www.gofundme.com/f/56zxys-help-my-sister-and-her-kids?
https://www.wsaw.com/2021/12/17/bowler-woman-attacked-by-family-dog-dies-injuries/
Cover Image Source: GoFundMe | Please help our family
