What to Know
- Jaelyn Rodriguez, 11, was on her way to her bus stop in Yonkers June 22 when the animals mauled her
- Bystanders tried to throw cans and bottles at the dogs to stop the attack, but the canines didn't stop; Jose Jimenez came to the rescue
- The dogs were euthanized; their owner was arrested a day after the attack on a charge of reckless endangerment
The good Samaritan who swooped in and rescued an 11-year-old girl as two large dogs viciously mauled her on her way to her Yonkers bus stop two months ago was united Wednesday with the child whose life he is credited with saving.
"I don't feel like a hero -- I did what I had to do," said Jose Jimenez as he accepted the City of Yonkers 2017 Good Samaritan Award for his heroism Wednesday.
The girl's mother tearfully told him at the ceremony, "I thank you from the bottom of my heart. And so does she."
On June 22, Jiminez had just completed his night shift at Domino's Sugar Factory when he came upon the Bullmastiff-type dogs attacking and biting Jaelyn Rodriguez on Yonkers Avenue, authorities have said.
Bystanders had been trying to help to no avail before Jimenez got there.
"Cars pulled over and started throwing bottles, whatever they could find. That dog would not let her go. She was screaming for dear life, 'Help me, help me,'" witness Marilyn Garcia said at the time.
When Jimenez arrived, he grabbed Rodriguez from the dogs' mouths and brought her to a hospital.
"At that moment, you don't have time to think -- you have to do anything," he said.
The child's mother, Teresa Rolon, said the girl was bitten everywhere from her neck to the feet.
"If it wasn't for him, she would be dead. She would be dead," Rolon said.
Rodriguez spent some time at a hospital being treated for her wounds. The girl told News 4 Wednesday she felt "safe" as Jiminez drove her to the hospital.
The two dogs, which were unleashed with no owner present at the time of the attack, were euthanized after animal control officers' efforts to sedate them with health sticks and darts failed. Their 49-year-old owner was arrested a day after the attack on a charge of reckless endangerment. Police said the dogs escaped from a fenced-in yard on Prescott Avenue just before the attack.
