By Madina Toure
An 8-year-old Bayside boy who was bitten by a dog at a relative’s home in Pennsylvania is raising money to support an Ozone Park animal shelter where his family had adopted a dog that helped him heal.
Ethan Rivera, who currently attends PS 209 in Whitestone, was bitten by his aunt’s dog in November while his family was visiting her home in Lansdale, Pa.
Despite receiving stitches at the hospital and being treated, Ethan’s face became disfigured. But he turned the unfortunate event into a positive experience by raising money to support Heavenly Angels Animal Shelter, formerly located at 97-14 Liberty Ave. in Ozone Park, where his family adopted a dog last May.
The dog, a female lab and Pit Bull mix they named Delilah, supported him throughout the ordeal. He raised $60.
“She would always be next to me anywhere I go,” Ethan said.
Heavenly Angels is currently operating at a shelter in Westchester while it looks for a permanent location. It currently houses 50 dogs.
Soon after Ethan raised the money, friends of his mother, Beth Rivera, 39, and other individuals matched his donation to the shelter. Matched donations have come out to $250 and counting.
“I just felt like it because I can help dogs who are lost and they can find them,” Ethan said.
In November 2014, a day after Thanksgiving, they went to visit Beth’s sister-in-law in Lansdale. Her sister-in-law’s dog, an 8-year-old male Beagle mix, bit Ethan in the face.
His father, an EMT, was not in the house but drove back quickly to meet them. Ethan was taken to Abington Hospital in Lansdale and they called a plastic surgeon, who gave him 16 external stitches and 16 internal stitches. Some stitches were removed after his face swelled and became infected.
When they returned to Bayside the next day, his face was disfigured. He was rushed to Cohen’s Children’s Hospital in Lake Success and he had to be quarantined until it could be determined what type of infection he had.
Ethan was admitted to the hospital’s school system so he did not miss any days of school. A teacher also came to see him in the hospital.
Beth said their shelter dog helped him get through the ordeal.
“He was more in love with her and she was very protective of him, checking up on him,” she said.
Ethan started raising money for the shelter, first with loose change his grandfather gave him. He made posters and his mother promoted his cause on her Facebook page.
He brought the $60 to the shelter this past weekend on the one-year anniversary of his family’s adopting Delilah.
The company where Beth works, UBM, matched Ethan’s donation, along with Beth’s brother , a family friend and her child, and others.
“It’s sort of a pay-it-forward kind of [thing] spreading through the neighborhood, and at the same time raising awareness for Heavenly Angels,” she said.
Reach reporter Madina Toure by e-mail at mtour
