An idyllic Saturday afternoon in rural Mobile County turned into every parent’s worst nightmare when a 9-year-old girl was savagely mauled by the family’s pit bull mix, ripping open her face and scalp in a brutal attack that required emergency airlift to USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital.

The incident unfolded around 3:30 p.m. on November 14 when little Aubrey Miller was playing in the backyard of her home on Snow Road North. According to Mobile County Sheriff’s Office reports, the dog — a 4-year-old rescue named “Buddy” — suddenly lunged without warning and clamped onto the child’s face.

“She was just sitting there coloring, and the next thing I heard was blood-curdling screams,” sobbed mother Kayla Miller, 31, who raced outside to find her daughter covered in blood. “He had her whole cheek in his mouth. I had to pry his jaws open with my bare hands.”

Neighbors heard the chaos and rushed over. One man fired a warning shot into the air to scare the dog off while another applied pressure to Aubrey’s gaping wounds. Within minutes, Life Flight helicopter touched down in a nearby field.

Photos shared by the family on a GoFundMe page — which has already raised over $47,000 — show the extent of the carnage: deep lacerations across the right side of her face, a torn ear hanging by threads, and puncture wounds stretching from her temple to her jawline.

“She looks like she went through a meat grinder,” Kayla wrote in an update Sunday night. “They’re talking reconstructive surgery, skin grafts, possible eye damage. My baby may never look the same.”

Doctors performed emergency surgery Saturday night to repair major arteries and stitch what tissue they could salvage. Plastic surgeons have been flown in from Birmingham for follow-up procedures scheduled this week.

Aubrey remains sedated in pediatric ICU, breathing through a tube, her face swollen beyond recognition.

The dog, adopted from a shelter two years ago, had never shown aggression before, according to the family. Animal control seized Buddy immediately. Sources say the pit bull mix will be euthanized after a mandatory 10-day rabies hold.

“He was her best friend,” Kayla told reporters through tears outside the hospital Monday. “She slept with him every night. We’re all devastated.”

Mobile County has seen a spike in serious dog attacks this year — seven requiring hospitalization since January, officials confirmed — prompting renewed calls for stricter breed-specific laws. Pit bulls and pit mixes were involved in five of those cases.

Sheriff Sam Cochran warned residents: “Even the friendliest family dog can snap. One second can change a child’s life forever.”

Aubrey’s father, who works construction and was on a job site when the attack happened, raced home still wearing his muddy boots. “I just keep replaying it in my head,” he posted online. “I should’ve been there.”

The GoFundMe, titled “Help Aubrey Heal After Dog Attack,” details mounting medical bills expected to top $250,000 even with insurance. Well-wishers from across Alabama have flooded the page with messages.

“Praying for this sweet angel,” wrote one donor who gave $500. “No child should ever go through this.”

Classmates at Hutchens Elementary organized a balloon release Monday afternoon, tying pink ribbons — Aubrey’s favorite color — to hundreds of helium balloons.

School counselors have been brought in to help students cope with the trauma of seeing graphic photos circulating on social media.

Animal advocates, meanwhile, urged the public not to demonize the breed. “This is a tragedy, but it’s about individual dogs and responsible ownership,” said a spokesperson for the Mobile SPCA.

But for the Millers, those debates feel distant. Their focus remains on the little girl fighting for every breath in Room 312.

“She squeezed my hand today,” Kayla updated Tuesday morning. “That’s my fighter.”

Doctors say the road ahead will be long — months of surgeries, years of therapy, permanent scarring almost certain.

As Alabama prays for its newest tiny warrior, one thing is clear: a split-second of horror has shattered a family — and reminded an entire community that even the gentlest giants can turn in an instant.