Mauling victim has deep wounds but no ill will; Paula Ybarra of Minneapolis does not blame the two dogs or their owner for last week's attack that left her eating through a tube in her nose and unable to speak.(NEWS)

Byline: Chao Xiong; Staff Writer

Paula Ybarra remembers her longtime friend telling her to be mindful of his two dogs before she entered his house last week.

The next thing she can recall is waking up two days later after surgery to repair her throat. There was a hole in her throat. She couldn't speak. One dog - a 150-plus pound American bulldog named Bobo - had clamped down on her neck. Merlin, a smaller pit bull, had bitten down on her foot.

"I have no idea" why I was mauled, the single mother of three mouthed silently from her hospital bed Tuesday morning. When asked if poor ownership by friend Tom Mohrbacker, 39, was responsible, Ybarra's eyes narrowed and she shook her head emphatically. No.

In her first news interview since the attack March 26, Ybarra penned her thoughts on a notepad, unable to speak.

Her primary doctor at Hennepin County Medical Center, Dr. Jon Krook, said he expects Ybarra to make a full recovery by late summer, walking and talking again.

"She's young and healthy," he said.

Ybarra suffered "very serious" injuries, including a crushed trachea, a hole in her esophagus, the crushing of one of four main arteries from the chest to the brain and stanched blood flow, Krook said.

"She almost choked to death in the field ... on her own blood," he said, adding that Ybarra appeared to have suffered one bite wound to the neck and another to an ankle.

Tuesday, she sat up in bed, a tracheostomy tube sprouting from her throat, the only means for her to breathe. Flowers sat nearby, and handmade cards from her daughters hung on the wall.

Ybarra, 37, communicates through writing and some sign language, at times choosing a well executed raise of the eyebrows, scrunch of the nose or flourish of her hands to drive the point across. The north Minneapolis native mouthed many thoughts, feeding them to her younger brother turned translator, Tom Provost.

Ybarra said she knew the dogs from when they were less than a year old. Their behavior never indicated possible violence, she said. They were deemed dangerous by the city after repeatedly biting a 7-year-old in Mohrbacker's home in December. Ybarra wasn't aware of that, but she doesn't blame the dogs for what happened to her.

The night of the mauling, two of her three daughters and others were at Mohrbacker's house on NE. Taylor Street in Minneapolis, she wrote in a prepared statement. Ybarra, who lives down the street, said she was taking her 4-year-old daughter, Cassandra, to the bathroom when Mohrbacker told her to be careful that his dogs didn't accidentally knock the child down.

Ybarra said she doesn't remember what happened next, but that according to her daughter: Cassandra played with the dogs in the bathroom and was knocked over. Ybarra bent over to pick her up, and that's when she was bitten.

Witnesses have said she walked outside, her neck gushing blood.

"This was a very close call," Provost said of the mauling.

"My kids have played with both dogs on several occasions and on that night ... with no problems," Ybarra's statement said.

The dogs were put down last week, a sore point with Ybarra, an animal lover who said she's known several of Mohrbacker's pit bulls or similar type dogs during their 20-year friendship that started at Minneapolis' North High School. Mohrbacker is charged with three misdemeanors for not registering his dogs as dangerous animals and in the mauling. He could not be reached to comment Tuesday.

She's making gains

Ybarra and Provost said they're not interested in blame, but rather recovery. Both credit an outpouring of support for boosting their spirits.

Ybarra, who works at a banner company and at a traumatic brain injury center, expects to return when she recovers. For now, she eats with the aid of a tube inserted through her nose. She's walking with assistance. A week ago she was in an induced coma and bed-ridden. Provost said medication likely erased her memory of the mauling. She may never remember it, he said.

Krook said the tracheostomy tube will probably be removed in a week or two. He thinks she can start eating Jell-O by mouth today and slowly graduate to other food.

It's uncertain when she'll leave the hospital - perhaps in two weeks - but Ybarra knows the first thing she'll do when that time comes: "Hug and kiss my kids."

Chao Xiong - 612-673-4391

IF YOU WANT TO HELP

A fund has been set up and benefits have been scheduled to help Paula Ybarra.

- Donations can be made to any Twin Cities U.S. Bank in care of Ybarra.

- Wine and dessert tastings, 7 to 9 p.m. April 13 and 27 at Opposable Thumbs Books, 2833 Johnson St. NE., Minneapolis. Suggested donation at the door. Silent auction and raffle included.

- Bowling and music, 6 to 10 p.m. May 17 at Elsie's Bowl and Lounge, 729 Marshall St. NE., Minneapolis. $10 with beverages, live music, silent auction and raffle included.

For more, call Mary Colon at 612-388-2768.

Mauling victim has deep wounds but no ill will; Paula Ybarra of Minneapolis does not blame the two dogs or their owner for last week's attack that left her eating through a tube in her nose and unable to speak.(NEWS)

Byline: Chao Xiong; Staff Writer

Paula Ybarra remembers her longtime friend telling her to be mindful of his two dogs before she entered his house last week.

The next thing she can recall is waking up two days later after surgery to repair her throat. There was a hole in her throat. She couldn't speak. One dog - a 150-plus pound American bulldog named Bobo - had clamped down on her neck. Merlin, a smaller pit bull, had bitten down on her foot.

"I have no idea" why I was mauled, the single mother of three mouthed silently from her hospital bed Tuesday morning. When asked if poor ownership by friend Tom Mohrbacker, 39, was responsible, Ybarra's eyes narrowed and she shook her head emphatically. No.

In her first news interview since the attack March 26, Ybarra penned her thoughts on a notepad, unable to speak.

Her primary doctor at Hennepin County Medical Center, Dr. Jon Krook, said he expects Ybarra to make a full recovery by late summer, walking and talking again.

"She's young and healthy," he said.

Ybarra suffered "very serious" injuries, including a crushed trachea, a hole in her esophagus, the crushing of one of four main arteries from the chest to the brain and stanched blood flow, Krook said.

"She almost choked to death in the field ... on her own blood," he said, adding that Ybarra appeared to have suffered one bite wound to the neck and another to an ankle.

Tuesday, she sat up in bed, a tracheostomy tube sprouting from her throat, the only means for her to breathe. Flowers sat nearby, and handmade cards from her daughters hung on the wall.

Ybarra, 37, communicates through writing and some sign language, at times choosing a well executed raise of the eyebrows, scrunch of the nose or flourish of her hands to drive the point across. The north Minneapolis native mouthed many thoughts, feeding them to her younger brother turned translator, Tom Provost.

Ybarra said she knew the dogs from when they were less than a year old. Their behavior never indicated possible violence, she said. They were deemed dangerous by the city after repeatedly biting a 7-year-old in Mohrbacker's home in December. Ybarra wasn't aware of that, but she doesn't blame the dogs for what happened to her.

The night of the mauling, two of her three daughters and others were at Mohrbacker's house on NE. Taylor Street in Minneapolis, she wrote in a prepared statement. Ybarra, who lives down the street, said she was taking her 4-year-old daughter, Cassandra, to the bathroom when Mohrbacker told her to be careful that his dogs didn't accidentally knock the child down.

Ybarra said she doesn't remember what happened next, but that according to her daughter: Cassandra played with the dogs in the bathroom and was knocked over. Ybarra bent over to pick her up, and that's when she was bitten.

Witnesses have said she walked outside, her neck gushing blood.

"This was a very close call," Provost said of the mauling.

"My kids have played with both dogs on several occasions and on that night ... with no problems," Ybarra's statement said.

The dogs were put down last week, a sore point with Ybarra, an animal lover who said she's known several of Mohrbacker's pit bulls or similar type dogs during their 20-year friendship that started at Minneapolis' North High School. Mohrbacker is charged with three misdemeanors for not registering his dogs as dangerous animals and in the mauling. He could not be reached to comment Tuesday.

She's making gains

Ybarra and Provost said they're not interested in blame, but rather recovery. Both credit an outpouring of support for boosting their spirits.

Ybarra, who works at a banner company and at a traumatic brain injury center, expects to return when she recovers. For now, she eats with the aid of a tube inserted through her nose. She's walking with assistance. A week ago she was in an induced coma and bed-ridden. Provost said medication likely erased her memory of the mauling. She may never remember it, he said.

Krook said the tracheostomy tube will probably be removed in a week or two. He thinks she can start eating Jell-O by mouth today and slowly graduate to other food.

It's uncertain when she'll leave the hospital - perhaps in two weeks - but Ybarra knows the first thing she'll do when that time comes: "Hug and kiss my kids."

Chao Xiong - 612-673-4391

IF YOU WANT TO HELP

A fund has been set up and benefits have been scheduled to help Paula Ybarra.

- Donations can be made to any Twin Cities U.S. Bank in care of Ybarra.

- Wine and dessert tastings, 7 to 9 p.m. April 13 and 27 at Opposable Thumbs Books, 2833 Johnson St. NE., Minneapolis. Suggested donation at the door. Silent auction and raffle included.

- Bowling and music, 6 to 10 p.m. May 17 at Elsie's Bowl and Lounge, 729 Marshall St. NE., Minneapolis. $10 with beverages, live music, silent auction and raffle included.

For more, call Mary Colon at 612-388-2768.

Mauling victim has deep wounds but no ill will; Paula Ybarra of Minneapolis does not blame the two dogs or their owner for last week's attack that left her eating through a tube in her nose and unable to speak.(NEWS)

Byline: Chao Xiong; Staff Writer

Paula Ybarra remembers her longtime friend telling her to be mindful of his two dogs before she entered his house last week.

The next thing she can recall is waking up two days later after surgery to repair her throat. There was a hole in her throat. She couldn't speak. One dog - a 150-plus pound American bulldog named Bobo - had clamped down on her neck. Merlin, a smaller pit bull, had bitten down on her foot.

"I have no idea" why I was mauled, the single mother of three mouthed silently from her hospital bed Tuesday morning. When asked if poor ownership by friend Tom Mohrbacker, 39, was responsible, Ybarra's eyes narrowed and she shook her head emphatically. No.

In her first news interview since the attack March 26, Ybarra penned her thoughts on a notepad, unable to speak.

Her primary doctor at Hennepin County Medical Center, Dr. Jon Krook, said he expects Ybarra to make a full recovery by late summer, walking and talking again.

"She's young and healthy," he said.

Ybarra suffered "very serious" injuries, including a crushed trachea, a hole in her esophagus, the crushing of one of four main arteries from the chest to the brain and stanched blood flow, Krook said.

"She almost choked to death in the field ... on her own blood," he said, adding that Ybarra appeared to have suffered one bite wound to the neck and another to an ankle.

Tuesday, she sat up in bed, a tracheostomy tube sprouting from her throat, the only means for her to breathe. Flowers sat nearby, and handmade cards from her daughters hung on the wall.

Ybarra, 37, communicates through writing and some sign language, at times choosing a well executed raise of the eyebrows, scrunch of the nose or flourish of her hands to drive the point across. The north Minneapolis native mouthed many thoughts, feeding them to her younger brother turned translator, Tom Provost.

Ybarra said she knew the dogs from when they were less than a year old. Their behavior never indicated possible violence, she said. They were deemed dangerous by the city after repeatedly biting a 7-year-old in Mohrbacker's home in December. Ybarra wasn't aware of that, but she doesn't blame the dogs for what happened to her.

The night of the mauling, two of her three daughters and others were at Mohrbacker's house on NE. Taylor Street in Minneapolis, she wrote in a prepared statement. Ybarra, who lives down the street, said she was taking her 4-year-old daughter, Cassandra, to the bathroom when Mohrbacker told her to be careful that his dogs didn't accidentally knock the child down.

Ybarra said she doesn't remember what happened next, but that according to her daughter: Cassandra played with the dogs in the bathroom and was knocked over. Ybarra bent over to pick her up, and that's when she was bitten.

Witnesses have said she walked outside, her neck gushing blood.

"This was a very close call," Provost said of the mauling.

"My kids have played with both dogs on several occasions and on that night ... with no problems," Ybarra's statement said.

The dogs were put down last week, a sore point with Ybarra, an animal lover who said she's known several of Mohrbacker's pit bulls or similar type dogs during their 20-year friendship that started at Minneapolis' North High School. Mohrbacker is charged with three misdemeanors for not registering his dogs as dangerous animals and in the mauling. He could not be reached to comment Tuesday.

She's making gains

Ybarra and Provost said they're not interested in blame, but rather recovery. Both credit an outpouring of support for boosting their spirits.

Ybarra, who works at a banner company and at a traumatic brain injury center, expects to return when she recovers. For now, she eats with the aid of a tube inserted through her nose. She's walking with assistance. A week ago she was in an induced coma and bed-ridden. Provost said medication likely erased her memory of the mauling. She may never remember it, he said.

Krook said the tracheostomy tube will probably be removed in a week or two. He thinks she can start eating Jell-O by mouth today and slowly graduate to other food.

It's uncertain when she'll leave the hospital - perhaps in two weeks - but Ybarra knows the first thing she'll do when that time comes: "Hug and kiss my kids."

Chao Xiong - 612-673-4391

IF YOU WANT TO HELP

A fund has been set up and benefits have been scheduled to help Paula Ybarra.

- Donations can be made to any Twin Cities U.S. Bank in care of Ybarra.

- Wine and dessert tastings, 7 to 9 p.m. April 13 and 27 at Opposable Thumbs Books, 2833 Johnson St. NE., Minneapolis. Suggested donation at the door. Silent auction and raffle included.

- Bowling and music, 6 to 10 p.m. May 17 at Elsie's Bowl and Lounge, 729 Marshall St. NE., Minneapolis. $10 with beverages, live music, silent auction and raffle included.

For more, call Mary Colon at 612-388-2768.