SURGEONS have managed to save the arm of a pregnant woman after a savage attack by her own dog.

Nicola Pearson, 22, was attacked by the Presa Canario dog at her home in Bysingwood Road, Faversham, three weeks ago and doctors feared she could lose her arm.

But husband Brett Pearson said it had been saved by surgeons at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, although it will be weeks before she can come home.

Mrs Pearson, who is heavily pregnant, is to have her baby in William Harvey Hospital at Ashford. Mr Pearson, an engineer, said his wife was still "in a bad way".

Neighbours jumped over the garden wall and fought off the dog with a breeze block, a spade and sticks when it attacked her in her garden early in the morning. The dog was later put down.

Presa Canarios originate from the Canary Islands and are a cross between native dogs, bulldogs and mastiffs.