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Little girl jumps into first swim race after losing arm in dog attack

Published  February 19, 2016 10:09am EST
FOX 29 Philadelphia

(STORYFUL) - Just days before her 8th birthday Thalia Standley lost her arm in a tragic attack by a neighbor's dog.

Not a dry eye at the pool. Thalias first swimming carnival. Amazing little girl. 󾟞🏼󾟞🏼

On August 29, 2015, while she was sitting on a retaining wall--which had a fence on top--of a neighbor's yard, a dog poked its way through a gap and took hold of the fingers on her right hand.

The dog was able to drag the girl's right arm through the gap and take off a portion of her arm above the wrist before help could arrive.

After nine surgeries, Standley is recovering and participating in sports.

A new video from her Facebook recovery page, Reaching Thalia, shows her competing in her first "swimming carnival" at Valentine Public School in Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia, as a boisterous crowd cheers her on.