A normal trip to the beach became a long and painful trip the hospital when a dog twice the size of Dakota Hall attacked her by biting off her left ear. Now her family is dealing with heavy debt as she recovers.
It was a day at the beach like any other when 3-year old Dakota Hall went up to pet a Great Dane. But that dog wasn't as friendly as she thought.
"She was just walking up to it to say hi," said Renee Hall, Dakota's mother. "It started attacking her."
In just seconds the dog had bitten Dakota's left ear off completely, sending her to the OU children's hospital. Seven operations later her ear is reconstructed, but their life is completely changed.
"We've got thousands of dollars in debt, she can't go to school weeks after surgery, we have to drive to Norman twice a week," said Renee.
Dakota's ear is on its way back to healing, but she can't attend her preschool for 10 days after each operation because of the risk of infection.
"It's been really hard for us to adjust our schedule."
In spite of the incident Dakota still loves animals. Especially her own dogs who don't bite.
"My dogs nibble," said Dakota.
The Kingston Masonic Lodge is presenting the Hall family with a donation tomorrow to help afford their expenses, but they can't get back their normal routine.
"Everything has just become difficult," said Renee. "There's nothing we can do about it."
There is no leash law on Lake Texoma in Kingston. Without an owner coming forward, the Hall family has been left with nowhere to look.