Jacqueline Durand.Photo: Brooker Law, PLLC
“She’s loved dogs since she could talk,” explains sister Barreca Durand, 24, speaking to PEOPLE aboutthe recent dog mauling Jacqueline miraculously survived. “She asks about her dogs all the time, and wants to make sure they’re eating. She was their person, so the dogs are actually struggling not seeing her as well, which is crazy. And she’s excited to be with them again.”
The Bishops had hired Durand to watch their three dogs while they were out of town. Durand — a student at the University of Texas at Dallas who had been working as a dog sitter and walker — had met the dogs without incident prior to the life-altering attack, which unfolded the day before her 22nd birthday.
“She is the sweetest person I know,” Barreca said. “She is so kind. Her presence is almost calming when you first meet her, so I know she went in [to the Bishops' home] with love and caring, so that’s hard.”
“It’s heartbreaking,” Barreca added. “She suffered a serious traumatic event, and I think she remembers quite a bit of it, which is really hard for my family to come to terms with, because when she was in the coma, we prayed so hard that she would forget it.”
A GoFundMe campaignhas been established online to help Jacqueline through her ongoing recovery.
According to the complaint, the Bishops are accused of negligence and premise liability in the lawsuit, which claims Durand was unlocking the door to the Bishops' Coppell residence when, “without provocation,” the dogs “pushed the door open and brutally attacked” her.
PEOPLE has been unable to reach the Bishops for comment.
The suit alleges the dogs knocked Jacqueline to the ground and managed to pull her clothing off during the mauling, according to the suit, and that they “tore off and ate both of Jacqueline’s ears, her nose, her lips, and most of her face below her eyes.”
Durand, who was also bitten her across most of her body, has undergone several corrective surgeries since the attack.
“She is so strong,” Barreca said. “The fact that she survived this alone, because the pit bull was 90 pounds, and she wasn’t much bigger than 110 pounds at the time.”
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Barreca told PEOPLE it’s been hard watching who she calls her “built-in best friend” struggle to do simple things, like chew and speak.
“Jacqueline is holding up okay, but every day is a challenge,” Barreca said. “She is learning how to retrain her jaw to open again because the muscles are gone in her face. Knowing she doesn’t have ears or a lip or a nose is really hard for her.”
Being bedridden for weeks after the attack caused the muscles in Jacqueline’s toes to deteriorate, and now, “she is re-learning how to walk,” Barreca said. “I have been with her every step of the way, and I told her no matter how many surgeries you have or how long you are in the hospital, or where you end up having to go for these surgeries, I will be there, every step of the way.”
source: people.com
