‘Remarkable young girl’: Fairbury rallies around 7-year-old who survived brutal dog attack

FAIRBURY, Neb. (KLKN) — What started as a bike ride on a Monday afternoon in Fairbury quickly changed when 7-year-old Ella Arnold was viciously attacked by two dogs.

Her mother leaped into action and pulled the canines off of her daughter.

In that moment, Ella was clinging on for dear life, asking God to save her.

First responders treated the little girl’s serious injuries before flying her to the children’s hospital in Omaha, where she received multiple surgeries.

“Through all of her struggles and suffering, she brought together a whole town,” the Rev. Justin Fulton said. “That little girl, we’re just so proud of. Her persistence and courage bringing so many people from so many backgrounds together through a tragic event is pretty remarkable.”

Just six days after the attack, the young girl, while still recovering from her brush with death, gained the courage to show up to church on Sunday.

“She wanted to thank God for saving her life,” Fulton said. “And again, I think we wanted to thank her for her resolve and her witness, so it was very inspirational to see her and her family. She’s a remarkable young girl.”

Arnold goes to Central Elementary in Fairbury. The school district is stepping in to show its support with an auction.

All proceeds will go toward the Arnold family.

“I would like to say it’s surprising, but we have a really strong community that rallies behind its own,” said Carly Winter, spokeswoman for Fairbury Public Schools. “I expected that we would have a pretty good output, and it still goes until Friday, so I’m excited to see where it will go from here.”

She said the community just wants to help in any way they can.

“We just wanted to show that when we come together as a community, we can do some pretty cool things in Fairbury,” Winter said.