Giving Mia a Voice
Friends, strangers step in to help girl's family with rising medical bills after she is silenced by a brutal dog attack
By VINCE LATTANZIO
Updated 1:20 PM EST, Wed, Nov 4, 2009
Miabella Delaney-Lipschutz may never speak again.
The 5-year old has spent the past month inside Children's Hospital of Philadelphia recovering from a brutal dog attack.
Mia was visiting Maple Acres Farm in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. with her mom on October 5 when she was attacked by the farm owner's German Shepherd. The dog, which court documents show had a history of aggression, bit the girl in the throat while she pet him.
The preschooler was medevaced to the hospital where she underwent a handful of surgeries. Those lifesaving procedures have amounted to mounting medical bills. So, now a campaign is on to help Mia's family pay for her recovery.
"When you have kids who get injured it just breaks your heart and you wanna do whatever you can," said Miabella's pastor Bob Ingraham.
Ingraham and other friends have been working hard on the fund, but it’s the help of strangers that have made the push more successful.
"We just thought that this would be a great opportunity for us to do something positive," said Whitemarsh Police Lt. Mike Beaty whose benevolent association is donating $500.
Donation jars with the little girl's picture is also popping up in boutiques, bars and salons across Montgomery County.
"This community support is a huge boost to this family," said family attorney Matthew Casey.
The dog was put down.
Donations to help Mia and her family can be made to The Miabella Fund:
The Miabella Fund
c/o Bob Ingraham
Plymouth Valley Community Church
1090 Germantown Pike
Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
First Published: Nov 2, 2009 11:04 PM EST
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