Tri-Cities toddler flown to Spokane hospital after family dog attacks

A Pasco 1-year-old was flown by air ambulance to Spokane after his family’s dog attacked his face Friday night.

His parents, Jacob and Nichole Murbach, were having a quiet night at home listening to music and watching their son dance along, when their dog attacked.

“This was the most traumatic, scariest moment of our lives,” said Nichole Murbach in a GoFundMe to raise money for their son’s recovery and any future needs he may have.

The toddler was taken by ambulance to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland and then flown to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, where he spent two nights.

He has a broken nose, torn ligament in his eye and a tear in the bottom of his chin almost into his mouth, according to the GoFundMe campaign. Surgeons were able to reattach his ligament and sew his muscles back.

Pain management is under control, but the next few weeks will be rough, his mother wrote. The boy will need to see a plastic surgeon and eye surgeon again in the next week.

The dog has been euthanized. Although the family did not say what kind of dog they had, previous social media posts show them and their child with a dog that appears to be a German shepherd.

“We are just completely lost and trying to understand why this happened,” his mother said on the GoFundMe page. “We don’t have answers.”