SPECIAL REPORT: Boy gets $1.125 million after being mauled by dog

Jordyn Bankston, a 17-year-old Zion boy, was awarded in July $1.125 million, the biggest law firm settlement for a dog bite in Illinois, after a 120-pound Bullmastiff named Kong escaped through a hole in a fenced-in-yard, chased him, pulled him off his bike and bit him on the legs, thigh, buttocks, arms, shoulders and head.

The attack happened in 2011, and the boy’s family sued.

The dog, , was euthanized.

Patrick Salvi Sr. of the Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard law firm represented the Bankston family who was awarded the settlement.

Salvi said the boy suffered traumatic injuries, both physical and emotional due to the attack, since Kong lacerated his scalp, arms and legs. The boy needed significant plastic surgery, Salvi said.

“It wasn’t a quick nip. The attack went on for 10 minutes; he thought the dog was going to kill him,” Salvi said.

The Bankstons had a family dog they gave away after the incident with Kong. Salvi isn’t sure what type of dog it was and the family has respectfully asked for privacy. But “they decided to find a new home for it because it was a triggering effect for [Jordyn],” Salvi said.

Neither the family nor the lawsuit had anything to do with the decision of Kong’s euthanization, Salvi said.

“The family didn’t want the death penalty for the dog, they just wanted justice,” Salvi said.

That justice came in the form of the million dollar payment because, Salvi explained, the man who owned the dog had an umbrella homeowner’s insurance of $1.3 million, which covered dog bites.

Salvi added that if Bankston had been a man in his 80s with scars on his back from the attack, that would have possibly led to a different outcome in the courtroom, but Bankston was in his teens and visible parts of his body are now scarred.

Chilton, Yambert and Porter, the Chicago firm representing the defendant, Eddie Diaz, of Zion, would not comment on the lawsuit. Steven Novy, a lawyer with the firm, said, “There was an agreement that we wouldn’t speak to the media [about the lawsuit.]”

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[ http://www.lakecountyjournal.com/2013/09/11/special-report-owners-of-killed-dog-want-felony-charge/a3bfpbw/ ]

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