Persevering After a Bloody Attack

Her garden has wilted. The flowers Ruby Sharum tended so zealously outside her manila-colored stucco house in Orange have withered away.

And she will never again know the prick of a thorn or feel dirt through her fingers.

A month ago, Sharum, 91, was attacked by her great-grandson’s pit bull while she put away groceries. She not only lost both arms, but also much of the independence that her friends and family say she has shown her entire life.

Sharum now lies in a hospital bed at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, flanked by carnations in florists’ vases. The great-grandmother of 13 -- who until recently not only took care of her garden but still drove a car -- now needs help for the most basic activities: walking, eating, drinking.

“It’s the most terrible thing that can ever happen to a person that has so much independence,” said her son Ken Sharum, 71. “I can’t imagine ever existing that way.”

Still, friends and family say they are amazed at how much she has improved. Her doctors credit her strong religious faith for her ability to cope and move on.

“She’s the model for all the rehab patients we have, with the will and the strength that she has,” said Sharum’s doctor, Michelle Thai.

Sharum said she has accepted her new disability and is eager to learn how to adapt.

“Whatever comes, I feel you have to make the best of it,” she said. “I kind of look forward to the therapy because I know it’s necessary to help me.”

But the memories of that cold night Feb. 13 still haunt her, no matter how much she tries to hide it from her family and friends. Thai said Sharum suffers post-traumatic stress, experiencing flashbacks to the day the pit bull, Zion, lunged at her.

“If I could forget, I would be better off,” she said, with only the smallest tremor in her voice. “All I remember is that we were putting away groceries. The next thing I knew, he was tearing into me.”

The attack was witnessed by Sharum’s granddaughter, who ran to neighbors to summon help. Eventually, family members and neighbors were able to pull the dog away, but by the time police arrived, Sharum was badly hurt.

Sharum was rushed to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where her arms were amputated above the elbow. She remained there for three weeks before being transferred to St. Jude for rehabilitation. Pain medication kept her from understanding much of what had occurred, she said.

And when she regained consciousness and realized her injuries, “it was a terrible shock -- thinking that if I recover, what am I going to do without arms, hands,” she said.

Her longtime friends say the stoic response is just like Sharum. They say she never indulges in self-pity and may be going through more pain than she will ever admit.

“Sometimes you visit people and they go on and on about their history, but with Ruby you don’t know much,” said June Watanabe, who has known Sharum through church for 14 years. “The quieter, the stronger. She’ll sit there, grin and bear it.”

And it is that reticence that kept friends and family from understanding the danger Sharum faced at home every day. She shared the house with her granddaughter. At times her great-grandson, who kept Zion and a Rottweiler at the address, also was there.

The week after the attack, Orange County Animal Care Services officials said it was not the first time Zion had caused trouble. Neighbors felt constantly threatened by the pit bull, and authorities said it had attacked other dogs in Sharum’s house on several occasions. Zion was euthanized the day after the attack on Sharum.

Sharum doesn’t acknowledge seeing any of that. Zion had “just been the perfect pet,” she said. “We never thought that he’d wind up doing anything like that.”

The Orange County district attorney’s office has asked Orange police to investigate whether Sharum’s great-grandson Ian Buckhard, who owned the dog, should be held criminally responsible. Buckhard could not be reached for comment.

Although Sharum doesn’t blame anyone other than the dog for the attack, her son feels very differently.

“I was upset at the great-grandson for having the dogs,” said Ken Sharum. He said the family holds Buckhard responsible.

“Maybe this is something I could’ve prevented, had I been more insistent,” he said.

Doctors said they expect Sharum to recover. The family is already looking into getting her prosthetic arms. Doctors believe such devices will restore much of her beloved independence.

Sharum has agreed to move in with her son in southwest Riverside County and is already setting tasks for herself. “I think that carpet needs to be cleaned,” she said.