The horror mauling saw the woman have her voice box shattered by a Cane Corso dog, which was later euthanised – they are currently not a restricted breed in Ireland
(Image: Mariia Kokorina via Getty Images)
A woman in her 60s was left fighting for every breath after a dog bite left her with a crushed throat.
The horror mauling saw the woman have her voice box shattered by a Cane Corso dog. The breed is unrestricted in Ireland, and the dog was known to the woman, but not owned by her.
The attack was described as unprovoked, and the animal was euthanised shortly after the incident. She was brought to Beaumont Hospital in north Dublin, where surgeons had to perform an operation to cut a hole in the woman’s neck after her airway had completely collapsed.
The force of the bite was so significant that it left the woman with two puncture wounds on the front of her neck and caused her throat cartilage to splinter into pieces, an injury usually seen in high-speed car crashes. She also suffered from surgical emphysema – a terrifying condition where air leaks from the windpipe and traps itself under the skin.
The case was detailed in the April 2026 issue of the Irish Medical Journal. Doctors described laryngeal trauma following a dog bite as a “rare but potentially life-threatening injury”.
They also noted that it is more commonly seen in children. Because she had “stridor” – which is noisy, laboured breathing – and surgical emphysema, the team at Beaumont had to perform an emergency tracheostomy to bypass the crushed larynx before performing complex reconstruction.
She required a laryngeal stent to keep the airway open for two weeks and multiple follow-up procedures. Miraculously, the medical team described an “optimal recovery” for the woman, reported Dublin Live.
The tracheostomy was successfully decannulated, meaning the tube was removed, and she was able to breathe normally on her own. A follow-up examination (flexible nasendoscopy) confirmed that her vocal cords were moving normally.
This indicated that she retained both the structural and neurological function of her voice box, and she then underwent specialised speech and language therapy to help restore her ability to swallow and speak.
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