Australian singer Dami Im is taking antibiotics and has received a tetanus shot after a dog bit her in the thigh.
The “Sound of Silence” hitmaker recounted the terrifying ordeal in two separate posts on her Instagram account.
“I GOT BITTEN BY A DOG (will delete later cos it looks gross),” she wrote on Insta on Tuesday, punctuating the sentence with a series of crying tears emojis. “I was on my morning walk minding my own business and this dog jumped on me out of the blue and the owner walked away without checking if I was ok, even though you could see my pant had ripped and I was sobbing on the ground out of pain and shock.”
“Luckily my angel friend came to help me and took me to the GP. Seriously I love dogs, but if you can’t manage them, it’s your fault if they attack people on the street…what a morning.”
According to the National Health Service in the UK, animal bites that break the skin can lead to serious infections such as tetanus and rabies. Although it’s rare for that to happen, it’s still important to have bites looked at immediately so doctors can offer treatment to prevent infection.
Dami received an outpouring of support from her friends and followers, with many calling out the irresponsible actions of the dog’s owner. On Wednesday, Dami followed-up with a quick video on Insta to let her friends and followers know that she’s OK.
“Hello everyone. I just wanted to quickly let everyone know I’m doing OK. I just had so many friends messaging me because they were worried about what happened to me yesterday with the dog bite. I was in so much shock because I was just doing my normal walk and this dog that I didn’t even notice because I was just walking — I was on the phone — had jumped on my leg all of a sudden.”
“The dog bit me on my thigh. I was just in so much pain and shock and then the owner just left me there. Thankfully a friend of mine came to me to help and took me to the GP to get the wound cleaned. I had a tetanus shot and am also on antibiotics. I’m OK, so thank god.”
“I was more shocked and disappointed that the owner just left me there without making sure that I even knew what to do after that happening to me. I was just on the floor with the wound and the blood and everything.”
This should never happen to anyone. But we’re particularly pained because of all the good that Dami does for her community — and indeed the world.
Among other charitable causes, Dami has sponsored children with Compassion Australia since she was 17 years old. She and her husband Noah now sponsor eight kids all over the world and Dami even visited Uganda to meet with a sponsored child just weeks after Eurovision 2016. There is no rest for Dami when it’s a matter of doing good.
More recently she and Noah visited another child in The Philippines. (You can watch a video on that at the end of this post).
What to do if a dog bites you
According to the PDSA — the UK’s leading vet charity — you should consider the following steps if you are attacked by a dog as Dami has been.
“Wash the wound thoroughly. Run under a cold tap for 10 minutes, even if the skin isn’t broken.”
“Speak to the owner if possible. This might be easier if you know them. Let them know what’s happened and that they should get advice for their dog from a veterinary behaviourist.”
“Seek medical attention as soon as possible. Tell your doctor or medical practitioner that you have been bitten by an animal.”
“Report the bite. Taking photos of the wound straight after it happens can be helpful. Your police and local authority’s dog warden should be informed of any dog bites to take steps to prevent this happening in future.”
We are grateful that Dami Im is doing OK and are sending her all of our love!
Hope she’s alright.
As a dog owner I say that the owner was at main fault for just walking away like nothing happened.
No rabies in Oz so she only needed tetanus and a course of antibiotics. If the dog was registered and she can give a description most city councils can find the animal involved and it’s owner. It will be found in most cases unfortunately this may not be the only time this animal does this . Obviously would hate to have this happen to a child. These animals are usually found very quickly here and the owners fined and the animal either registered as a dangerous animal and the owners have to rehab the animal or give up the animal… Read more »
Terrible. I feel her actually when I was about five years old a dog bit my arm and the bleeding and wound were so bad that I was admitted to the hospital for about two weeks. I still remember that experience and it wasn’t a really nice one. Hope Dami recovers soon and forgets all about this incident.
I was once bitten by my pet dog while feeding him and my mom freaked the hell out that on the next day, I had to get checked up and get vaccinated for rabies (once for five or six weeks).
I’ve been bitten by a nasty little Jack Russell terrier before. Not fun, although it didn’t break skin fortunately. Hope she’s doing well. Remember: if you own a dog, WATCH IT AT ALL TIMES. They’re wonderful, but they’re impulsive, and if they freak out out of nowhere at someone or something (my dog, for instance, will randomly bark at dogs for no real reason), CALM THEM DOWN AND HOLD THEM BACK. If you can’t hold yourself accountable for taking care of them and making sure they’re interacting well with the world around them, you shouldn’t own one.
Ouch! I was once bitten by a neighbor’s dog in the crux of my elbow. I still have a small scar from the incident.