AMAYA HESS

On May 26, 2006, Amaya, her mother Bobbie Jo and her sister, Brielle were walking down Belmont Avenue. Bobbie Jo entered the yard of Mark Hamilton. After speaking briefly with Mr. Hamilton's nephew Michael, the door to the house opened and a pit bull flew out the door and latched on to Amaya's head. He had Amaya in his mouth for a considerable period of time, somewhere from 5-8 minutes. When the claw end of a hammer was used to pop open his locked jaw, half of Amaya's scalp was missing, her right eye was not in its socket and her right ear was torn from the side of her head. Her mother was screaming for help holding her when a man named Jerry Ashlock, driving down the road, heard the screams and stopped to help. When he got to Amaya, she was not breathing. Having been trained in basic life-saving techniques in the military, he began to perform CPR and was able to revive her. Her heart stopped again. He revived her again. The ambulance arrived, and she was taken to the hospital.

Amaya went through nine surgeries and was in a medically-induced coma for 69 days in Riley Children's Hospital. She was transferred to Methodist Children's Hospital Rehabilitation Center on August 1, 2006. She was in rehabilitation for 54 days and was released on September 22nd, 2006.

She has skin grafts on more than half her scalp, she is missing 2/3rds of her right ear and she has severely weakened vision in her right eye, but is otherwise doing wonderfully. She is walking, talking, and playing.

According to the doctors, Amaya is facing years of reconstructive surgery, somewhere between 30 to 40 surgeries over her lifetime. Bobbie Jo has qualified for Medicaid, and Amaya's medical bills are currently being paid by the State of Indiana. Because of that, Bobbie Jo is facing income limits in order to stay eligible and is facing incredible difficulty finding a job that will allow her to take Amaya to her doctor's appointments and be available for all of Amaya's surgeries and recovery stays. Amaya has very limited care options, and the best case scenario would be to have private care for her in Bobbie Jo's home while Bobbie Jo works to keep Amaya safe from injuries and infections that might occur in day care situations.

The money donated will be placed in a Special Needs Trust at Huntington Bank, called the Amaya Hess Fund, and will go 100% to the care of Amaya. The trust is not a charitable trust, however, and donations are not tax deductible. Amaya must stay eligible for Medicaid for her medical bills to be covered, and this is the only type of trust that Medicaid allows. Shawn Dullaghan Schilling, an attorney and friend of the family, and Sheryl May, Amaya's grandmother, will act as trustees on the fund. Both trustees must sign any withdrawals to insure the credibility and accountability of the fund expenditures. At this time, there is very little chance of recovering anything through a lawsuit against the owner of the dog.