Mail carrier honored for saving 7-year-old from pit bull attack

By Greg Suskin

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Shaquitta White wiped tears from her eyes as she hugged the stranger who may have saved her daughter's life.

On Tuesday, Mark Pizzo was honored by fellow postal employees in Rock Hill for his heroism on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

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He was on his route on Park View Court in Rock Hill, driving into the cul-de-sac. He always saw children playing there, but there was a dog, a pit bull, he'd never seen before.

It was near the group of children.

"I thought it was playing with her (the girl) and like jumped up, and pushed her, but then it knocked her down," Pizzo said.

He watched in horror as the dog grabbed 7-year-old Kayden White by the back of the head and began biting her aggressively.

"It had her by the top of her head, by her braids. So it was like a rope toy. It was pulling at her head and she was screaming," he said.

Pizzo ran from his delivery truck and tried to grab the dog by its muzzle, but it wouldn't let go of her.

"At that point I knew it had to do something because it wasn't going to let go. So I struck the dog. I punched the dog like four or five times,” he said.

The dog finally let go, and he tossed the girl onto a nearby trampoline to protect her. The dog then bit a neighbor who came outside, before they were able to get the girl to safety.

Shaquitta White told Channel 9 that God put a hero at that place, at that time.

"If this man, this man of God, was not there, my daughter would not be here," she said.

One of her own children tore the girl's shirt off and held it to the back of her head to stop the bleeding.

Kayden needed seven staples in her head to close the deep wounds.  She finally returned to school Monday at Richmond Drive Elementary.

Her mother knows what could have happened. She's grateful someone was watching over Kayden.

"I’ve seen stories that kids die every day, from a pit bull, and she's alive. She's here with me now," she said.

On Tuesday, work stopped at the Ebenezer Post Office as the staff paused to applaud Pizzo and honor him.

After talking to reporters, Pizzo quietly went back to sorting mail, saying he only did what anyone else would.

He didn't see the need to make the news for just lending a hand.

"I mean, I'm grateful, thanks, but it's not necessary.  I just did what I thought was right," he said.

The pit bull belonged to a neighbor, and Shaquitta White told Channel 9 it has been put down.

No charges have been filed.

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