Elouise was playing with a friend in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, last December when she was attacked by a crossbred Staffy dog, says The mirror. The attack was so violent thatElouise had to be rushed to Rotherham Hospital nearby for facial and eye surgery.
Naturally, the ordeal was disturbing for the little girl. According to his mother Elouise is now “very nervous“around dogs, and tends to hide behind her mother when she encounters someone she doesn’t know. In addition to the physical consequences, we can also imagine the psychological impact of the attack on the little girl.
Prove to Elouise that her scars do not define her
Fortunately, Elouise’s story doesn’t end there. Stacey, who admired her daughter’s courage in the face of the situation, decided to enter her in the Little Miss Glamor UK beauty pageant. His goal was simple: restore Elouise’s trust and prove to her that her scars did not define her. “I wanted her to get her confidence back and show people that it’s okay to have scars, that you can still achieve your dreams.“, Stacey Murray confided.”His self-confidence returned little by little. When her stitches started to scar and fall out, she started using foundation to hide her scars before her dance competitions. When I asked her why she did that, she simply said she didn’t want people to see her scars.“
Elouise won the competition hands down, and Stacey admits she was too.speechless“in light of his daughter’s victory.”I never thought she would winStacey confided. ‘She had to send a little biography of herself and explain what she would bring to the role. I was in shock when she won; I didn’t know what to say or do. I was just there, like ‘oh my God’“.
A new beginning for the little girl
Since her victory in the competition, Elouise has been beaming. No more hiding, the little girl takes her over completely scars and even started a sensory garden project at her town’s fire station with her mother.
Despite the trauma she suffered, Stacey Murray remained on good terms with the dog’s owner. “We are still friends; It must have been terrible for them too. I would hate to be that parent who has to call another parent to tell them their child has been attacked by a dog” she said.